1 1^^-  j/jy^      vse I 

S       o<ILIBRARYOF 

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3    1153    000bS377    b 


This  Book  may  be  kept  out 

TfFO  IVEEKS 

only  and  is  subject  to  a  fine  of 
TWO  GENTS  a  day  thereafter. 
It  will  be  due  on  the  day  indicated 
below. 


THE  BRIDGEWATER  TREATISES 

ON    THE 

iPOWER,  WISDOM  AND   (GOODNESS  OF  GOD 
AS  MANIFESTED  IN  THE  CREATION. 


TREATISE    VI. 

GEOLOGY  AND  MINERALOGY  CONSIDERED  WITH  REFERENtE  TO 
NATURAL  THEOLOGY. 

BY  THE  REV.  WILLIAM  BUCKLAND,  D.  D. 

IN  TWO  VOLUMES. 

VOL.  I. 

THOO  LORD  I.\  THE  BEGINNING  II.iST  LAID  THE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  EARTH, 

PSALM  CH,  25, 


"  Let  us  take  a  Survey  of  the  principal  Fabrick,  viz.  the  Terraqueous 
Globe  itself;  a  most  stupendous  work  in  every  particular  of  it,  which  doth 
no  less  aggrandize  its  Maker  than  every  curious  complete  work  doth  its 
Workman.  Let  us  cast  our  eyes  here  and  there,  let  us  ransack  all  the 
Globe,  let  us  with  the  greatest  accuracy  inspect  every  part  thereof,  search 
out  the  inmost  secrets  of  any  of  the  creatures,  let  us  examine  them  with  all 
our  gauges,  measure  them  with  our  nicest  rules,  pry  into  them  with  our 
microscopes  and  most  exquisite  instruments,  still  we  find  them  to  bear 
testimony  to  their  infinite  Workman." 

derham's  physico-theology,  book  II.  p.  38. 

"  Could  the  body  of  the  whole  Earth  -  •  be  submitted  to  the  Examination 
of  our  Senses,  were  it  not  too  big  and  disproportioned  for  our  Inquiries,  too 
unwieldy  for  the  Management  of  the  Eye  and  Hand,  there  is  no  question 
but  it  would  appear  to  us  as  curious  and  well-contrived  a  frame  as  that  of  a 
human  body.  We  should  sec  the  same  Concatenation  and  Subserviency, 
the  same  Necessity  and  Usefulness,  the  same  Beauty  and  Harmony  in  all 
and  every  of  its  Parts,  as  what  we  discover  in  the  Body  of  every  single 
Animal."  spectator,  no.  .043. 


GEOLOGY    AND    MINERALOGY 


CONSIDERED 


WITH  REFERENCE  TO  NATURAL  THEOLOGY. 


REV.  WILLIAM  BUCKLAND,  D.  D. 


CANON  OF  CHRIST  CHURCH  AND  READER  IN  GEOLOGV  AND  MINERALOGY  IN  THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF  OXFORD. 


A    NEW    EDITION. 
WITH  SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES. 


IN    TWO    VOLUMES. 
VOL.    L 


PHILADELPHIA: 
LEA    &    BLANCHARD. 

1841. 


'i>\'^'\. 


\ 


GRIGGS  &  CO.,  PRINTEK^ 


TO 


DAVIES  GILBERT,  ESQ. 

D.  C.  L.  (BY  DIPLOMA,)  F.  R.  S.,  HON.  M.  R.  S.  B.,  HON.   M.  R.  I.  *., 
?.  B.  A.,  r.  L.  S.,  F.  O.  S.,  F.  R.  A.  3.,  BTC.  ETC. 


MV  DEAR  SIR, 

I  ONLY  fulfil  a  gratifying  duty  in  dedicating  to  you  the 
present  Essay,  which  owes  its  existence  principally  to  your 
favourable  opinion  of  my  ability  to  discharge  the  trust  con- 
fided to  me. 

To  have  been  thus  selected  for  such  a  service,  is  a  dis- 
tinction which  I  prize  as  one  of  the  most  honourable  results 
of  my  devotion  of  many  years  to  the  study  of  the  mineral 
structure  of  the  Earth.  I  fear,  however,  that  your  estimate 
of  my  qualifications  has  been  raised  above  my  deserts,  by 
your  afl;ectionate  regard  for  the  University,  with  which  it 
has  been  our  common  happiness  to  be  so  long  connected. 

Whatever  other  results  may  have  attended  my  public  ex- 
ertions in  this  place,  I  assure  you  that  it  is  a  source  of  much 
satisfaction  to  me  to  find  them  thus  rewarded  by  the  appro- 
bation of  a  Philosopher,  whose  attainments  placed  him  in 
the  chair  once  occupied  by  Newton,  and  who  is  endeared 
by  his  urbanity  to  all,  who  have  ever  enjoyed  the  happiness 
of  communication  with  him,  cither  as  the  President  of  the 
Royal  Society  of  London,  or  in  that  more  familiar  inter- 
course of  private  friendship  to  which  it  has  been  my  privi- 
lege to  be  admitted. 

Believe  me  to  remain,. 
My  dear  Sir, 
Your  much  obliged  and  faithful  Servant, 

William  Buckland. 
Christ  Church,  Oxford, 
May  30,  1836. 

1* 


PREFACE. 


Three  important  subjects  of  inquiiy  in  Natural  Theology 
come  under  consideration  in  the  present  Treatise. 

The  first  regards  the  inorganic  Elements  of  the  Mineral 
Kingdom,  and  the  actual  dispositions  of  the  Materials  of  the 
Earth :  many  of  these,  although  produced  or  modified  by 
the  agency  of  violent  and  disturbing  forces,  afford  abundant 
proofs  of  wise  and  provident  Intention,  in  their  adaptations 
to  the  uses  of  the  Vegetable  and  Animal  Kingdoms,  and 
especially  to  the  condition  of  Man. 

The  second  relates  to  the  Theories  which  have  been  enter- 
tained respecting  the  Origin  of  the  World ;  and  the  deriva- 
tion of  existing  systems  of  organic  Life,  by  an  eternal  suc- 
cession, from  preceding  individuals  of  the  same  species ;  or 
by  gradual  transmutation  of  one  species  into  another.-  I 
have  endeavoured  to  show,  that  to  all  these  Theories  the 
phenomena  of  Geology  are  decidedly  opposed. 

The  third  extends  into  the  Organic  Remains  of  a  former 
World  the  same  kind  of  investigation,  which  Paley  has  pur- 
sued with  so  much  success  in  his  examination  of  the  evi- 
dences of  Design  in  the  mechanical  structure  of  the  corporeal 
frame,  of  Man,  and  of  the  inferior  Animals  which  are  placed 
with  him  on  the  present  surface  of  the  Earth. 

The  myriads  of  petrified  Remains  which  are  disclosed  by 
the  researches  of  Geology  all  tend  to  prove,  that  our  Planet 
has  been  occupied  in  times  preceding  the  Creation  of  the 
Human  Race,  by  extinct  species  of  Animals  and  Vegetables, 
made  up,  like  Hving  Organic  Bodies,  of  "  Clusters  of  Con- 
trivances," which  demonstrate  the  exercise  of  stupendous 


Vm  PREFACE- 

Intelligence  and  Power.  They  farther  show  that  these 
extinct  forms  of  Organic  Life  were  so  closely  allied,  by 
Unity  in  the  principles  of  their  construction,  to  Classes, 
Orders,  and  Families,  which  make  up  the  existing  Animal 
and  Vegetable  Kingdoms,  that  they  not  only  afford  an 
argument  of  surpassing  force,  against  the  doctrines  of  the 
Atheist  and  Polytheist;  but  supply  a  chain  of  connected 
evidence,  amounting  to  demonstration,  of  the  continuous 
Being,  and  of  many  of  the  highest  Attributes  of  the  One 
Living  and  True  God. 


A  friend  has  this  day  suggested  tome,  that  expressions  are  used  in  certain 
parts  of  this  Treatise,  which  some  persons  consider  as  speaking  too  confidently 
respiecting  Physical  Phenomena,  as  if  they  could  not  have  been  otherwise  dis- 
posed, had  sucii  been  the  will  of  the  Creator;  or  which  seem  to  imply  that 
His  method  of  proceeding  under  former  systems,  must  of  necessity  have 
been  the  same  as  those  which  we  witness  in  the  growth  of  living  species  of 
Animals  and  Vegetables,  and  in  the  laws  that  now  regulate  the  material 
World.  I  am  not  conscious  of  liaving  used  any  such  expressions,  but  lest  I 
should  have  inadvertently  done  so,  I  gladly  take  this  opportunity  of  stating, 
that  I  accord  to  the  fullest  extent  with  such  persons  respecting  the  Omnipo- 
tence of  the  Creator,  and  admit  with  them,  that  had  it  been  his  pleasure,  ail 
things  that  exist  might  have  been  the  immediate  results  of  an  Almighty  .Aa'- 
My  only  endeavour  has  been  to  sliow,  that  as  far  as  we  may  venture  to 
argue  on  such  a  subject,  from  tlie  analogies  afforded  by  the  organic  and  in- 
organic parts  of  the  world  around  us,  the  proofs  of  design  which  we  disco- 
ver in  the  fossil  relics  of  former  systems  of  Creation,  differ  in  no  respect 
from  those  drawn  by  Paley  and  all  writers  on  Physico  Theology,  from  the 
structure  of  living  organic  bodies,  and  the  other  actual  phenomena  of  the 
natural  World,  in  evidence  of  the  Wisdom  and  Power,  and  Goodness  of  the 
Deity. 

Oxford,  April  4,  1837 


The  scientific  Reader  will  feel  that  much  value  has  been  added  to  the 
])reserit  work,  from  tlie  whole  of  the  Palaeontology,  during  its  progress 
tiirough  the  Press,  having  had  the  great  advantage  of  passing  under  the  re- 
vision of  Mr.  Broderip,  and  from  tlie  botanical  part  having  been  submitted 
to  Mr.  Robert  Brown.  I  have  also  to  acknowledge  my  obligations  to  Mr. 
Clift  for  his  important  assistance  in  the  anatomy  of  the  Megatherium;  to  Pro- 
fessor Agassiz  of  Neuchatel  for  his  unreserved  communications  of  his  disco- 
veries relating  to  Fossil  Fishes;  to  Mr.  Owen  for  his  revision  of  some  parts 
of  my  Chapter  on  Mollusks;  and  to  Mr,  James  Sowerby  for  his  assistance  in 
engraving  most  of  my  figures  of  radiated  animals,  and  some  of  those  of  Mol- 
lusks. 

To  all  these  Gentlemen  I  feel  it  my  duty  thus  to  offer  my  public  ac- 
knowledgements. 

Many  obligations  to  other  scientific  friends  arc  also  acknowledged  in  the 
course  of  the  work. 

The  Wood-cuts  have  been  executed  by  Mr.  Fisher  and  Mr.  Byfield,  and 
most  of  the  Steel  plates  of  Mollusks  by  Mr.  Zeltter 


NOTICE. 


Thk  series  of  Treatises,  of  which  the  present  is  one,  is  published  under 
the  following  circumstances : 

The  Right  Honourable  and  Reverend  Francis  Henrt,  Earl  of  Bridge- 
water,  died  in  the  month  of  February,  1829 ;  and  by  his  last  Will  and 
Testament,  bearing  date  the  25th  of  February,  1825,  he  directed  certain 
Trustees  therein  named  to  invest  in  the  public  funds  the  sum  of  Eight 
thousand  pounds  sterling  ;  this  sum,  with  the  accruing  dividends  thereon,  to 
be  held  at  the  disposal  of  the  President,  for  the  time  being,  of  the  Royal 
Society  of  London,  to  be  paid  to  the  person  or  persons  nominated  by  him. 
The  Testator  farther  directed,  that  the  person  or  persons  selected  by  the  said 
President'should  be  appointed  to  write,  print,  and  publish  one  thousand  copies 
of  a  work  On  the  Power,  Wisdom  and  Goodness  of  God,  as  manifested 
in  the  Creation;  illustrating  such  work  by  all  reasonable  arguments,  as  for 
instance,  the  variety  and  formation  of  God's  creatures  in  the  animal,  vegetable, 
and  mineral  kingdoms ;  the  efiect  of  digestion  and  thereby  of  conversion  ;  the 
construction  of  the  hand  of  man,  and  an  injinite  variety  of  other  arguments ; 
as  also  by  discoveries  ancient  and  modern,  in  arts,  sciences,  and  the  whole 
extent  of  literature.  He  desired,  moreover,  that  the  profits  arising  from  the 
sale  of  the  works  so  published  should  be  paid  to  the  authors  of  the  works. 

The  late  President  of  the  Royal  Society,  Davies  Gilbert,  Esq.,  requested 
the  assistance  of  his  Grace  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  of  the  Bishop 
of  London,  in  determining  upon  the  best  mode  of  carrying  into  effect  the  in- 
tentions of  the  Testator.  Acting  with  their  advice,  and  with  the  concurrence 
of  a  nobleman  immediately  connected  with  the  deceased,  JMr.  Davies  Gilbert 
appointed  the  following  eight  gentlemen  to  write  separate  Treatises  on  the 
different  branches  of  the  subject  here  stated  : 

THE  REV.  THOMAS  CHALMERS,  D.  D. 

Professor  of  divinity  in  the  cniversitt  op  Edinburgh. 
on  the  power,  wisdom  and  goodness  of  god  as  manifested  in  the  adapta- 
tion of  external  nature  to  the  moral  and  intellectual  constitu- 
tion of  man. 


NOTICE. 

JOHN  KIDD,  M.  D.  F.  R.  S. 

REGIUS  PROFESSOR  OF  MEDICINE  IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  OXFORD. 

ON  THE  ADAPTATION  OF  EXTERNAL  NATURE  TO  THE  FHYSICAt 

CONDITION  OF  MAN. 


THE  REV.  WILLIAM  WHEWELL,  M.  A.  F.  R.  S. 

FELLOW  OF  TRINITY  COLLEGE,  CAMBRIDGE. 

ASTRONOMY  AND  GENERAL  PHYSICS  CONSIDERED  WITH  REFERENCE 

TO  NATURAL  THEOLOGY. 


SIR  CHARLES  BELL,  K.  G.  H.  F.  R.  S.  L.  &  E. 

THE  HAND;    ITS  MECHANISM  AND  VITAL  ENDOWMENTS  AS  EVINCING 

DESIGN. 


PETER  MARK  ROGET,  M.  D, 

FELLOW  OF  AND  SECRETARY  TO  THE  ROYAL  SOCIETY. 
ON  ANIMAL  AND  VEGETABLE  PHYSIOLOGY. 


THE  REV.  WILLIAM  BUCKLAND,  D.  D.  F.  R.  S. 

CANON  OF  CHRIST  CHURCH,  AND  READER  IN  GEOLOGY  AND  MINERALOGY  IN  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  OXFORD. 

ON  GEOLOGY  AND  MINERALOGY. 


THE  REV.  WILLIAM  KIRBY,  M.  A.  F.  R.  S. 

ON  THE  HISTORY,  HABITS,  AND  INSTINCTS  OF  ANIMALS. 


WILLIAM  PROUT,  M.  D.  F.  R.  S. 

CHEMISTRY,  METEOROLOGY,  AND  THE  FUNCTIONS  OF  DIGESTION, 
CONSIDERED  WITH  REFERENCE  TO  NATURAL  THEOLOGY. 


His  Royal  Highness  the  Duke  of  Sussex,  President  of  the  Royal  Society 
having  desired  that  no  unnecessary  delay  should  take  place  in  the  publica- 
tion of  the  above-mentioned  treatises,  they  will  appear  at  short  intervals,  as 
they  are  ready  for  publication. 


CONTENTS 


OF   THE    FIRST    VOLUME. 


Chap.  I.  Extent  of  the  Province  of  Geology      .... 

II.  Consistency  of  Geological  Discoveries    with  Sacred   His 
tory 

III.  Proper  subjects  of  Geological  Inquiry     . 

IV.  Relation  of  Unstratified  to  stratified  Rocks 
V.  Volcanic  Rocks,  Basalt,  and  Trap 

VI.  Primary  stratified  Rocks     ..... 

VII.  Strata  of  the  Transition  Scries 

Remains  of  Vegetables  in  the  Transition  Series 
VIII.  Strata  of  the  Secondary  Series 
IX.  Strata  of  the  Tertiary  Series       .... 
Mammalia  of  the  Eocene  Period 
Mammalia  of  the  Miocene  Period 
Mammalia  of  the  Pliocene  Period 
X.  Relation  of  the  Earth  and  its  Inhabitants  to  Man 
XL  Supposed  cases  of  Fossil  Human  Bones 
XII.  General  History  of  Fossil  Organic  Remains 

XIII.  Aggregate    of  Animal   Enjoyment  increased,  and  that  of 

Pain  diminished  by  the  existence  of  Carnivorous  Races 

XIV.  Proofs    of  Design  in   the  Structure  of  Fossil  Vertebrated 

Animals 

§  I.  Fossil  Mammaria— Dinotherium 

11.  Megatherium 

in.  Fossil  Saurians         .         .         - 

IV.  Ichthyosaurus 

V.  Intestinal  Structure  of  Ichthyosaurus  and  of  Fossil  Fishes 
VI.  Plesiosaurus 

vn.  Mosasaurus,  or  great  Animal  of  Maestricht    . 

VIII.  Pterodactyle ■ 

Vol.  L  It 


Page 
13 

IB 
37 
39 
45 
48 
55 
57 
60 
67 
70 
77 
79 
82 
86 
89 

105 

109 
109 
112 
130 
133 
147 
157 
lei 
171 


XIV 


CONTENTS. 


IX.  Megalosaurus 

X.  Iguanodon 

XI.  Amphibious  Animals  allied  to  Crocodiles 

XII.  Fossil  Tortoises  or  Testudinata       ..... 

XIII.  Fossil  Fishes 

Sauroid  Fishes  in  the  Order  Ganoid  .... 

Fishes  in  Strata  of  the  Carboniferous  Order  . 
Fishes  of  the  Magnesian  Limestone,  or  Zechstein 
Fishes  of  the  Muschelkalk,  Lias,  and  Oolite  Formations 
Fishes  of  the  Chalk  Formation  ..... 

Fishes  of  the  Tertiary  Formations         ..... 

Family  of  Sharks       ....... 

Fossil  Spines,  or  Ichthyodorulites  ..... 

Fossil  Rays .         .         . 

Conclusion .         . 

Chap,  XV.  Proofs  of  design  in  the  Fossil  Remains  of  Mollusks  . 

§  I.  Fossil  Univalve  and  Bivalve  Shells         .... 

II.  Fossil  Remains  of  Naked  Mollusks,  Pens  and  Ink  bags 

of  Loligo        ,....,. 

lit.  Proofs  of  Design  in  the  Mechanism  of  Fossil  Chambered 
Shells  .......... 

Mechanical  Contrivances  in  the  Nautilus 

IV.  Ammonites 

V.  Nautilus  Sypho  and  Nautilus  Zic-Zac 

VI.  Chambered  Shells  allied  to  Nautili  and  Ammonites 

VII.  Belemnite  ........ 

viii.  Foraminated  Polythalamous  Shells.  Nummulites.  Miliola 

Chap.  XVI.  Proofs  of  Design  in  the  Structure  of  Fossil  Articulated 
Animals      ...... 

§  1.  First  Class  of  Articulated  Animals 

Fossil  Annelidans       ..... 

It.  Second  Class  of  Articulated  Animals 
Fossil  Crustaceans      .... 

Trilobites        ..... 

III.  Third  Class  of  Articulated  Animals 

Fossil  Arachnidans        .... 

Fossil  Spiders 

Fossil  Scorpions     .... 

!V.  Fourth  Class  of  Articulated  Animals 

Fossil  Insects        .... 


Page 
180 
185 
191 
195 
202 
208 
212 
213 
214 
216 
216 
218 
220 
221 
222 
224 
224 

230 

235 
238 
252 

270 
273 

280 

288 

291 
292 
292 
292 
292 
294 
305 
305 
306 
307 
308 
308 


CONTENTS.  XV 

Page 
Chap.  XVII.  Proofs  of  Design  in  the  Structure  of  Fossil  Radiated 

Animals,  or  Zoophytes 312 

§  I,  Fossil  Echinoderms 312 

Echinidans  and  Stelleridans     ....  313 

Crinoideans 314 

Encrinites  Moniliformis  .         .         .         .         .  317 

Pentacrinites 325 

II.  Fossil  Remains  of  Polypes 333 

Chap.  XVIII.  Proofs  of  Design  in  the  Structure  of  Fossil  Vegeta- 

bles 339 

§  i»  General  History  of  Fossil  Vegetables      .         .         .  339 

II.  Vegetables  in  Strata  of  the  Transition  Series      .  345 

Equisetaceoe 346 

Ferns           .        .         ^        .        .        .        .  347 

Lepidodendron 350 

Sigillaria 352 

Favularia,  Megaphyton,  Bothrodendron,  Uloden- 

dron 356 

Stigmaria 358 

Fossil  Conifera)         ......  363 

in.  Vegetables  in  strata  of  the  Secondary  Series       ,  368 

Fossil  Cycadeee 368 

Fossil  Pandaneoe 377 

IV.  Vegetables  in  strata  of  the  Tertiary  Series      .         .  380 

Fossil  Palms        .        .         »        .         .         .  385 

Conclusion 390 

Chap.  XIX.  Proofs  of  Design  in  the  Dispositions  of  Strata  of  the 

Carboniferous  Order         .....  392 

XX.  Proofs  of  Design  in  the  Effect  of  Disturbing  Forces  on 

the  Strata  of  the  Earth 403 

XXI.  Advantageous  Effect  of  Disturbing  Forces  in  giving 

Origin  to  Mineral  Veins 409 

XXII.  Adaptations  of  the  Earth  to  afford  Supplies  of  Water 

through  the  Medium  of  Springs     ....  415 

XXIII.  Proofs  of  Design  in  the  Structure   and  Composition  of 

Unorganized  Mineral  Bodies      ....  426 

XXIV.  Conclusion 432 


INTRODUCTION. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Extent  of  the  Province  of  Geology. 

If  a  stranger,  landing  at  the  extremity  of  England,  were 
to  traverse  the  whole  of  Cornwall  and  the  North  of  Devon- 
shire ;  and  crossing  to  St.  David's,  should  make  the  tour  of 
all  North  Wales ;  and  passing  thence  through  Cumberland, 
by  the  Isle  of  Man,  to  the  south-western  shore  of  Scotland 
should  proceed  either  through  the  hilly  region  of  the  Border 
Counties,  or,  along  the  Grampians,  to  the  German  Ocean ; 
he  would  conclude  from  such  a  journey  of  many  hundred 
miles,  that  Britain  was  a  thinly  peopled  sterile  region,  whose 
principal  inhabitants  were  miners  and  mountaineers. 

Another  foreigner,  arriving  on  the  coast  of  Devon,  and 
crossing  the  Midland  Counties,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Exe, 
to  that  of  the  Tyne,  would  find  a  continued  succession  of 
fertile  hills  and  valleys,  thickly  overspread  with  towns  and 
cities,  and  in  many  parts  crowded  with  a  manufacturing 
population,  whose  industry  is  maintained  by  the  coal  with 
which  the  strata  of  these  districts  are  abundantly  inter 
spersed.* 

♦  It  may  seen,  in  any  correct  geological  map  of  England,  thai  the  follow- 
ing important  and  populous  towns  are  placed  upon  strata  belonging  to  the 
single  geological  formation  of  the  new  red  sandstone: — Exeter,  Bristol,  Wor- 
cester, Warwick,  Birmingham,  Lichfield,  Coventry,  Leicester,  Nottingham, 
Derby,  Stafford,  Shrewsbury,  Chester,  Liverpool,  Warrington,  Manchester, 
Preston,  York,  and  Carlisle.  The  population  of  these  nineteen  towns,  by  tlie 
census  of  1830,  exceeded  a  million. 

The  most  convenient  small  map  to  which  I  can  refer  my  readers,  in  illufi- 
,  tration  of  this  and  other  parts  of  the  present  essay,  is  the  single  sheet,  re- 
VOL.  I. — 2 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

A  third  foreigner  might  travel  from  the  coast  of  Dorset 
to  the  coast  of  Yorkshire,  over  elevated  plains  of  oolitic 
limestone,  or  of  chalk;  without  a  single  mountain,  or  mine, 
or  coal-pit,  or  any  important  manufactory,  and  occupied  by 
a  population  almost  exclusively  agricultural. 

Let  us  suppose  these  three  strangers  to  meet  at  the  ter- 
mination of  their  journeys,  and  to  compare  their  respective 
observations;  how  different  would  be  the  results  to  which 
each  would  have  arrived,  respecting  the  actual  condition  of 
Great  Britain.  The  first  would  represent  it  as  a  thinly 
peopled  region  of  barren  mountains ;  the  second,  as  a  land 
of  rich  pastures,  crowded  with  a  flourishing  population  of 
manufacturers;  the  third,  as  a  great  corn-field,  occupied  by 
persons  almost  exclusively  engaged  in  the  pursuits  of  hus- 
bandry. 

These  dissimilar  conditions  of  three  great  divisions  of  our 
country,  result  from  diflferences  in  the  geological  structure 
of  the  districts  through  which  our  three  travellers  have  been 
conducted.  The  first  will  have  seen  only  those  north- 
w^estern  portions  of  Britain,  that  are  composed  of  rocks  be- 
longing to  the  primary  and  transition  series :  the  second  will 
have  traversed  those  fertile  portions  of  the  new  red  sand- 
stone formation  which  are  made  up  of  the  detritus  of  more 
ancient  rocks,  and  have  beneath  and  near  them,  inestimable 
treasures  of  mineral  coal :  the  third  will  have  confined  his 
route  to  wolds  of  limestone,  and  downs  of  chalk,  which  are 
best  adapted  for  sheep-walks,  and  the  production  of  corn.* 

duced  by  Gardner  from  Mr.  Greenoiigh's  large  map  of  England,  published 
by  the  Geological  Society  of  London. 

*  The  road  from  Bath  through  Cirencester  and  Oxford  to  Buckingham, 
and  thence  by  Kettering  and  Stamford  to  Lincoln,  afford-,  a  good  example 
of  the  unvaried  sameness  in  the  features  and  culture  of  the  soil,  and  in  the 
occupations  of  the  people,  that  attends  the  line  of  direction,  in  whicli  tlie 
oolite  formation  crosses  England  from  Weymoutli  to  Scarborough. 

The  road  from  Dorchester,  by  Blandford  and  Salisbury,  to  Andover  and 
Basingstoke,  or  from  Dunstable  to  Royston,   Cambridge,  and  Newmarket, 


INTRODUCTION'.  15 

t 

Hence  it  appears  that  the  numerical  amount  of  our  popu- 
lation, their  varied  occupations,  and  the  fundamental  sources 
of  their  industry  and  wealth,  depend,  in  a  great  degree,  upon 
the  geological  character  of  the  strata  on  Avhich  they  live. 
Their  physical  condition  also,  as  indicated  by  the  duration 
of  life  and  health,  depending  on  the  more  or  less  salubrious 
nature  of  their  employments ;  and  their  moral  condition,  as 
far  as  it  is  connected  with  these  employments,  are  directly 
aflected  by  the  geological  causes  in  which  their  various  oc- 
cupations originate. 

From  this  example  of  our  own  country,  we  learn  that  the 
same  constituent  materials  of  the  earth  are  not  uniformly 
continuous  in  all  directions  over  large  superficial  areas.  In 
one  district  we  trace  the  course  of  crystaUine  and  granitic 
rocks;  in  another  we  find  mountains  of  slate;  in  a  third, 
alternating  strata  of  sandstone,  shale,  and  limestone ;  in  a 
fourth,  beds  of  conglomerate  rock;  in  a  fifth,  strata  of  marl 
and  clay;  in  a  sixth,  gravel,  loose  sand,  and  silt.  The 
subordinate  mineral  contents  of  these  various  formations 
are  also  different ;  in  the  more  ancient,  are  veins  of  gold 

affords  similar  examples  of  the  dull  uniformity  that  we  observe  in  a  journey 
along  the  line  of  bearing'  of  tlic  clialk,  from  near  Bridport  on  the  coast  of 
Dorset,  to  Fiamborough  Head  on  the  coast  of  Yorkshire. 

In  the  same  line  of  direction,  or  line  of  bearing  of  the  strata  across  Eng- 
land, a  journey  might  be  made  from  Lyme  Regis  to  Whitby,  almost  entirely 
upon  tiie  lias  formation;  and  from  Weymouth  to  the  Humber,  without  once 
leaving  the  Oxford  clay.  Indeed  .ilmost  any  route,  taking  a  north-east  and 
south-west  direction  across  England,  will  for  the  most  part  pass  continuouslv 
along  the  same  formation;  wliilst  a  line  from  south-east  to  north-west,  at 
right  angles  to  the  former,  will  no  where  continue  on  the  same  stratum  be- 
}ond  a  few  miles.  Such  a  line  will  give  the  best  information  of  the  order  of 
superposition,  and  various  conditions  of  the  very  numerous  strata,  that  tra- 
verse our  island  in  a  succession  of  narrow  belts,  the  main  direction  of  which 
is  nearly  north-east  and  south-west.  This  line  has  afforded  to  Mr.  Cony- 
beare  the  instructive  section,  from  Newhaven  near  Brighton,  to  Whitehaven, 
published  in  his  Geology  of  England  and  Wales;  along  which  nearly  seventy 
elianges  in  the  character  of  the  strata  take  place. 


1()  INTRODUCTION. 

and  silver,  tin,  copper,  lead,  and  zinc ;  in  another  series,  we 
find  beds  of  coal ;  in  others  salt  and  gypsum ;  many  are 
composed  of  freestone,  fit  for  the  purpose  of  architecture ;  or 
of  limestone,  useful  both  for  building  and  cement ;  others  of 
clay,  convertible  by  fire  into  materials  of  building,  and  pot- 
tery :  in  almost  all  we  find  that  most  important  of  mineral 
productions,  iron. 

Again,  if  we  look  to  the  great  phenomena  of  physical  geo- 
graphy, the  grand  distributions  of  the  solids  of  the  globe; 
the  disposition  of  continents  and  islands  above  and  amidst 
the  waters;  the  depth  and  extent  of  seas,  and  lakes,  and 
rivers;  the  elevation  of  hills  and  mountains;  the  extension  of 
plains;  and  the  excavation,  depression,  and  fractures  of  val- 
leys ;  v>^e  find  them  all  originating  in  causes  which  it  is  the 
province  of  Geology  to  investigate. 

A  more  minute  examination  traces  the  progress  of  the 
mineral  materials  of  the  earth,  through  various  stages  of 
change  and  revolution,  affecting  the  strata  which  compose 
its  surface ;  and  discloses  a  regular  order  in  the  superposi- 
tion of  these  strata ;  recurring  at  distant  intervals,  and  ac- 
companied by  a  corresponding  regularity  in  the  order  of 
succession  of  many  extinct  races  of  animals  and  vegetables, 
that  have  followed  one  after  another  during  the  progress  of 
these  mineral  formations ;  arrangements  like  these  could  not 
have  originated  in  chance,  since  they  afford  evidence  of  law 
and  method  in  the  disposition  of  mineral  matter ;  and  still 
stronger  evidence  of  design  in  the  structure  of  the  organic 
remains  with  which  the  strata  are  interspersed. 

How  then  has  it  happened  that  a  science  thus  important, 
comprehending  no  less  than  the  entire  physical  history  of 
our  planet,  and  whose  documents  are  co-extensive  with  the 
globe,  should  have  been  so  little  regarded,  and  almost  with- 
out a  name,  until  the  commencement  of  the  present  cen- 
tury ? 

Attempts  have  been  made  at  various  periods,  both  by 
practical  observers  and  by  ingenious  speculators,  to  esta- 


TNTRODUCTION.  17 

blish  theories  respecting  the  formation  of  the  earth;  these 
have  in  great  part  failed,  in  consequence  of  the  then 
imperfect  state  of  those  subsidiary  sciences,  which,  within 
the  last  half  century,  have  enabled  the  geologist  to  return 
from  the  region  of  fancy  to  that  of  facts,  and  to  establish  his 
conclusions  on  the  firm  basis  of  philosophical  induction.  We, 
now  approach  the  study  of  the  natural  history  of  the  globe, 
aided  not  only  by  the  higher  branches  of  physics,  but  bv 
still  more  essential  recent  discoveries,  in  Mineralogy,  and 
Chemistry,  in  Botany,  Zoology,  and  comparative  Anatomy, 
By  the  help  of  these  sciences  we  are  enabled  to  extract  from 
the  archives  of  the  interior  of  the  earth,  intelligible  records 
of  former  conditions  of  our  planet,  and  to  decipher  docu- 
ments, which  were  a  sealed  book  to  our  predecessors  in  the 
attempt  to  illustrate  subterranean  history.  Thus  enlarged 
in  its  views,  and  provided  with  fit  means  of  pursuing  them 
Geology  extends  its  researches  into  regions  more  vast  and 
remote,  than  come  within  the  scope  of  any  other  physical 
science  except  Astronomy.  It  not  only  comprehends  the 
entire  range  of  the  mineral  kingdom,  but  includes  also  the 
history  of  innumerable  extinct  races  of  animals  and  vegeta- 
bles ;  in  each  of  which  it  exhibits  evidences  of  design  and 
contrivance,  and  of  adaptations  to  the  varying  condition  of 
the  lands  and  waters  on  which  they  were  placed ;  and  be- 
sides all  these,  it  discloses  an  ulterior  prospective  accommo- 
dation of  the  mineral  elements,  to  existing  tribes  of  plants 
and  animals,  and  more  especially  to  the  uses  of  man.  Evi- 
dences like  these  make  up  a  history  of  a  high  and  ancient 
order,  unfolding  records  of  the  operations  of  the  Almighty 
Author  of  the  Universe,  written  by  the  finger  of  God  him- 
self, upon  the  foundations  of  the  everlasting  hills. 

2* 


18  CONSISTENCY    OF    GEOLOGICAL 


CHAPTER  IL 

Consistency  of  Geological  Discoveries  ivith  Sacred  History, 

It  may  seem  just  matter  of  sui-prise,  that  many  learned 
and  religious  men  should  regard  with  jealousy  and  suspicion 
the  study  of  any  natural  phenomena,  which  abound  with 
proofs  of  some  of  the  highest  attributes  of  the  Deity ;  and 
should  receive  with  distrust,  or  total  incredulity,  the  an- 
nouncement of  conclusions,  which  the  geologist  deduces 
from  careful  and  patient  investigations  of  the  facts  which  it 
is  his  province  to  explore.  These  doubts  and  difficulties  re- 
rsult  from  the  disclosures  made  by  Geology,  respecting  the 
lapse  of  very  long  periods  of  time  before  the  creation  of 
man.  Minds  which  have  long  been  accustomed  to  date 
the  origin  of  the  universe,  as  well  as  that  of  the  human  race, 
from  an  era  of  about  six  thousand  years  ago,  receive  reluc- 
tantly any  information,  which  if  true,  demands  some  new 
modification  of  their  present  ideas  of  cosmogony;  and,  as 
in  this  respect,  Geology  has  shared  the  fate  of  other  infant 
sciences,  in  being  for  a  while  considered  hostile  to  revealed 
religion ;  so  hke  them,  when  fully  understood,  it  wdll  be 
found  a  potent  and  consistent  auxiliary  to  it,  exalting  our 
conviction  of  the  power,  and  Wisdom,  and  Goodness  of  the 
Creator.* 

*  Hebc  et  hujusmodi  coBlorum  plisenomenn,  ad  Epocham  sexmillennem, 
Balvis  naturae  legibus,  jEgr6  revocari  possunt.  Quin  fatcnduin  erit  potius 
non  caridem  fuisse  originem,  nequc  coaevam,  TcUuris  noslrte  et  totiiis 
Universi:  sive  Intellcctualis,  sive  Corporci,  Ncquc  iniruni  videri  debet 
hsBC  non  distinxisse  Mosem,  aut  Universi  originem  non  tractasse  scorsim 
ab  ilia  mundi  nostri  sublunaris  :  Hoce  enim  non  distinguit  populus,  aut 
separatim  aestimat^ — Recte  igitur  Legislator  sapicDtissimus  philosophis   re- 


DTSCOVERIES    WITH    SACRED    HISTORY.  19 

No  reasonable  man  can  doubt  that  all  the  phenomena  of 
the  natural  world  derive  iheir  origin  from  God ;  and  no  one 
who  believes  the  Bible  to  be  the  word  of  God ;  has  cause  to 
fear  any  discrepancy  between  this,  his  word,  and  the  results 
of  any  discoveries  respecting  the  nature  of  his  works;  but 
the  early  and  deliberate  stages  of  scientific  discovery  are 
always  those  of  perplexity  and  alarm,  and  during  these 
stages  the  human  mind  is  naturally  circumspect,  and  slow 
to  admit  new  conclusions  in  any  department  of  knowledge. 
The  prejudiced  persecutors  of  Galileo  apprehended  danger 
to  rehgion  from  the  discoveries  of  a  science,  in  which  a 
Kepler,*  and  a  Newton  found  demonstrations  of  the  most 
sublime  and  glorious  attributes  of  the  Creator.  A  Herschel 
has  pronounced  that  "  Geology,  in  the  magnitude  and  sub- 

liquit  id  negotii,  ut  ubi  maturuerit  ingenium  humamim,  per  aetatem,  usiim, 
et  observationes,  opera  Dei  alio  ordine  digercrent,  perfectionibus  divinis 
atque  rerum  naturae  adaptato. — BurneVa  Archxulogix  Philosophicx.  C. 
viii.  p.  306.     4to.     1692. 

•  Kepler  conchules  one  of  his  astronomical  works  with  tlie  following 
prayer,  which  is  thus  translated  in  the  Christian  Observer,  Aug.,  1834,  p. 
495. 

"  It  remains  only  tliat  I  should  now  lift  up  to  Heaven  my  eyes  and  hands 
from  the  table  of  my  pursuits,  and  humbly  and  devoutly  supjilicatc  the 
Father  of  lights.  O  tbou,  who  by  the  liglit  of  nature  dost  enkiralle  in  us  a 
desire  after  the  liglit  of  grace,  tliat  by  this  thou  mayst  translate  us  into  the 
light  of  glory;  I  give  tliee  thanks,  O  Lord  and  Creator,  that  thou  hast  glad- 
dened me  by  thy  creation,  when  I  was  enraptured  by  the  work  of  tity 
hands.  Behold,  I  have  here  completed  a  work  of  my  calling,  with  as  much 
of  intellectual  strength  as  thou  hast  granted  me.  I  have  declared  the  praise 
of  thy  works  to  the  men  who  will  read  the  evidences  of  it,  so  far  as  my  finite 
spirit  could  comprehend  them  in  their  infinity.  My  mind  endeavoured  to 
its  utmost  to  reach  the  truth  by  pliUosophy;  but  if  any  thing  unworthy  of 
thee  has  been  taught  by  me — a  worm  born  and  nourisiied  in  sin — do  thou 
teach  me  that  I  may  correct  it.  Have  I  been  seduced  into  presumption  by 
the  admirable  beauty  of  thy  works,  or  have  I  sought  my  own  glory  among 
men,  in  the  construction  of  a  work  designed  for  thine  honour?  O  then  gra- 
ciously and  mercifully  forgive  me;  and  finally  grant  me  this  favour,  that  this 
work  may  never  be  injurious,  but  may  conduce  to  thy  glory  and  the  good 
of  souls." 


20  CONSISTENCY  OF  GEOLOGICAL 

limity  of  the  objects  of  which  it  treats,  undoubtedly  ranks  in 
the  scale  of  sciences  next  to  astronomy;"  and  the  history  of 
the  structure  of  our  planet,  when  it  shall  be  fully  understood, 
must  lead  to  the  same  great  moral  results  that  have  followed 
the  study  of  the  mechanism  of  the  heavens;  Geology  has 
already  proved  by  physical  evidence,  that  the  surface  of 
the  globe  has  not  existed  in  its  actual  state  from  eternity, 
but  has  advanced  through  a  series  of  creative  operations, 
succeeding  one  another  at  long  and  definite  intervals  of 
time;  that  all  the  actual  combinations  of  matter  have  had  a 
prior  existence  in  some  other  state;  and  that  the  ultimate 
atoms  of  the  material  elements,  through  whatever  changes 
they  may  have  passed,  are,  and  ever  have  been,  governed 
by  laws,  as  regular  and  uniform,  as  those  which  hold  the 
planets  in  their  course.  All  these  results  entirely  accord 
with  the  best  feelings  of  our  nature,  and  with  our  rational 
coviction  of  the  greatness  and  goodness  of  the  Creator  of 
the  universe;  and  the  reluctance  with  which  evidences,  of 
such  high  importance  to  natural  theology,  have  been  ad- 
mitted by  many  persons,  who  are  sincerely  zealous  for  the 
interests  of  religion,  can  only  be  explained  by  their  want  of 
accurate  information  in  physical  science ;  and  by  their  un- 
grounded fears  lest  natural  phenomena  should  prove  incon- 
sistent with  the  account  of  the  creation  in  the  book  of  Ge- 
nesis. 

It  is  argued  unfairly  against  Geology,  that  because  its  fol- 
lowers are  as  yet  agreed  on  no  complete  and  incontroverti- 
ble theory  of  the  earth ;  and  because  early  opinions  advanced 
on  imperfect  evidence  have  yielded,  in  succession,  to  more 
extensive  discoveries;  therefore  nothing  certain  is  known 
upon  the  whole  subject ;  and  that  all  geological  deductions 
must  be  crude,  unauthentic,  and  conjectural. 

It  must  be  candidly  admitted  that  the  season  has  not  yet 
arrived,  when  a  perfect  theory  of  the  whole  earth  can  be 
fixedly  and  finally  established,  since  we  have  not  yet  before 
us  all  the  facts  on  v/hich  such  a  theory  may  eventually  be 


DISCOVERIES  WITH  SACRED  HISTORY.  21 

founded;  but  in  the  mean  while,  we  have  abundant  evi- 
dence of  numerous  and  indisputable  phenomena,  each 
establishing  important  and  undeniable  conclusions;  and  the 
aggregate  of  these  conclusions,  as  they  gradually  accumu- 
late, will  form  the  basis  of  future  theories,  each  more  and 
more  nearly  approximating  to  perfection;  the  first,  and 
second,  and  third  story  of  our  edifice  may  be  soundly  and 
solidly  constructed ;  aUhough  time  must  elapse  before  the 
roof  and  pinnacles  of  the  perfect  building  can  be  completed. 
Admitting  therefore,  that  we  have  yet  much  to  learn,  we 
contend  that  much  sound  knowledge  has  been  already 
acquired ;  and  we  protest  against  the  rejection  of  established 
parts,  because  the  whole  is  not  yet  made  perfect. 

It  was  assuredly  prudent,  during  the  infancy  of  Geology, 
in  the  immature  state  of  those  physical  sciences  which  form 
its  only  sure  foundation,  not  to  enter  upon  any  comparison 
of  the  Mosaic  account  of  creation  with  the  structure  of  the 
earth,  then  almost  totally  unknown ;  the  time  was  not  then 
come  when  the  knowledge  of  natural  phenomena  was  suf- 
ficiently advanced  to  admit  of  any  profitable  investigation 
of  this  question;  but  the  discoveries  of  the  last  half  century 
have  been  so  extensive  in  this  department  of  natural  know- 
ledge, that,  whether  we  will  or  not,  the  subject  is  now 
forced  upon  our  consideration,  and  can  no  longer  escape 
discussion.  The  truth  is,  that  all  observers,  however  vari- 
ous may  be  their  speculations,  respecting  the  secondary 
causes  by  which  geological  phenomena  have  been  brought 
about,  are  now  agreed  in  admitting  the  lapse  of  very  long 
periods  of  time  to  have  been  an  essential  condition  to  the 
production  of  these  phenomena. 

It  may  therefore  be  proper,  in  this  part  of  our  inquiry,  to 
consider  how  far  the  brief  account  of  creation,  contained  in 
the  Mosaic  narrative,  can  be  shown  to  accord  with  those 
natural  phenomena,  which  will  come  under  consideration  in 
the  course  of  the  present  essay.  Indeed  some  examination 
to  this  question  seems  indispensable  at  the  very  threshold  of 


22  CONSISTENCY  OF  GEOLOGICAL 

an  investigation,  the  subject  matter  of  which  will  be  derived 
from  a  series  of  events,  for  the  most  part,  long  antecedent 
to  the  creation  of  the  human  species.  I  trust  it  may  be 
shown,  not  only  that  there  is  no  inconsistency  between  our 
interpretation  of  the  phenomena  of  nature  and  of  the  Mosaic 
narrative,  but  that  the  results  of  geological  inquiry  throw 
important  light  on  parts  of  this  history,  which  are  otherwise 
involved  in  much  obscurity. 

If  the  suggestions  I  shall  venture  to  propose  require  some 
modification  of  the  most  commonly  received  and  popular 
interpretation  of  the  Mosaic  narrative,  this  admission  neither 
involves  any  impeachment  of  the  authenticity  of  the  text, 
nor  of  the  judgment  of  those  who  have  formerly  interpreted 
it  otherwise,  in  the  absence  of  information  as  to  facts  which 
have  but  recently  been  brought  to  light;  and  if,  in  this 
respect,  geology  should  seem  to  require  some  little  concession 
from  the  literal  interpreter  of  scripture,  it  may  fairly  be 
held  to  afford  ample  compensation  for  this  demand,  by  the 
large  additions  it  has  made  to  the  evidences  of  natural  reli- 
gion, in  a  department  where  revelation  was  not  designed  to 
give  information. 

The  disappointment  of  those  who  look  for  a  detailed 
account  of  geological  phenomina  in  the  Bible,  rests  on  a 
gratuitous  expectation  of  finding  therein  historical  informa- 
tion, respecting  all  the  operations  of  the  Creator  in  times  and 
places  with  which  the  human  race  has  no  concern ;  as  rea- 
sonably might  we  object  that  the  Mosaic  history  is  imper- 
fect, because  it  makes  no  specific  mention  of  the  satellites  of 
Jupiter,  or  the  rings  of  Saturn,  as  feel  disappointment  at  not 
finding  in  it  the  history  of  geological  phenomena,  the  details 
of  which  may  be  fit  matter  for  an  encyclopedia  of  science, 
but  are  foreign  to  the  objects  of  a  volume  intended  only  to 
be  a  guide  of  religious  belief  and  moral  conduct. 

We  may  fairly  ask  of  those  persons  Mho  consider  physi- 
cal science  a  fit  subject  for  revelation,  what  point  they  can 
imagine  short  of  a  communication  of  Omniscience,  at  which 


DISCOVERIES  WITH  SACRED  HISTORY.  23 

such  a  revelation  might  have  stopped,  without  imperfections 
of  omission,  less  in  degree,  but  similar  in  kind,  to  that  which 
they  impute  to  the  existing  narrative  of  Moses  1  A  reve- 
lation of  so  much  only  of  astronomy,  as  was  known  to 
Copernicus,  would  have  seemed  imperfect  after  the  dis- 
coveries of  Newton;  and  a  revelation  of  the  science  of 
Newton  would  have  appeared  defective  to  La  Place :  a 
revelation  of  all  the  chemical  knowledge  of  the  eighteenth 
century  would  have  been  as  deficient  in  comparison  with 
the  information  of  the  present  day,  as  what  is  now  known 
in  this  science  will  probably  appear  before  the  termination 
of  another  age ;  in  the  whole  circle  of  sciences,  there  is  not 
one  to  which  this  argument  may  not  be  extended,  until  we 
should  require  from  revelation  a  full  development  of  all 
the  mysterious  agencies  that  uphold  the  mechanism  of  the 
material  world.  Such  a  revelation  might  indeed  be  suited 
to  beings  of  a  more  exalted  order  than  mankind,  and  the 
attainment  of  such  knowledge  of  the  v/orks  as  well  as  of 
the  ways  of  God,  may  perhaps  form  some  part  of  our  hap- 
piness in  a  future  state ;  but  unless  human  nature  had  been 
constituted  otherwise  than  it  is,  the  above  supposed  com- 
munication of  Omniscience  would  have  been  imparted  to 
creatures,  utterly  incapable  of  receiving  it,  under  any  past 
or  present  moral  or  physical  condition  of  the  human  race; 
and  would  have  been  also  at  variance  with  the  design  of 
all  God's  other  disclosures  of  himself,  the  end  of  which  has 
uniformly  been,  not  to  impart  intellectual  but  moral  know- 
ledge. 

Several  hypotheses  have  been  proposed,  with  a  view  of 
reconciling  the  phenomena  of  Geology,  with  the  brief 
account  of  creation  which  we  find  in  the  Mosaic  narrative. 
Some  have  attempted  to  ascribe  the  formation  of  all  the 
stratified  rocks  to  the  effects  of  the  Mosaic  Deluge ;  an 
opinion  which  is  irreconcileable  with  the  enormous  thick- 
ness and  almost  infinite  subdivisions  of  these-  strata,  and 
with  the  numerous  and  regular  successions  which  they  con- 


24  CONSISTENCY  OF  GEOLOGICAL 

tain  of  the  remains  of  animals  and  vegetables,  differing 
more  and  more  widely  from  existing  species,  as  the  strata  in 
which  we  find  them  are  older,  or  placed  at  greater  depths. 
The  fact  that  a  large  proportion  of  these  remains  belong  to 
extinct  genera,  and  almost  all  of  them  to  extinct  species,  that 
lived  and  multiplied  and  died  on  or  near  the  spots  where 
they  are  now  found,  shows  that  the  strata  in  which  they 
occur  were  deposited  slowly  and  gradually,  during  long 
periods  of  time,  and  at  widely  distant  intervals.  These 
extinct  animals  and  vegetables  could  therefore  have  formed 
no  part  of  the  creation  with  which  we  are  immediately 
connected. 

It  has  been  supposed  by  others,  that  these  strata  were 
formed  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  during  the  interval  between 
the  creation  of  man  and  the  Mosaic  Deluge ;  and  that,  at 
the  time  of  that  deluge,  portions  of  the  globe  which  had 
been  previously  elevated  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and 
formed  the  antediluvian  continents,  were  suddenly  sub- 
merged ;  while  the  ancient  bed  of  the  ocean  rose  to  supply 
their  place.  To  this  hypothesis  also,  the  facts  I  shall  sub- 
sequently advance  offer  insuperable  objections. 

A  third  opinion  has  been  suggested,  both  by  learned 
theologians  and  by  geologists,  and  on  grounds  independent 
of  one  another ;  viz.  that  the  Days  of  the  Mosaic  creation 
need  not  be  understood  to  imply  the  same  length  of  time 
which  is  now  occupied  by  a  single  revolution  of  the  globe ; 
but  successive  periods,  each  of  great  extent :  and  it  has  been 
asserted  that  the  order  of  succession  of  the  organic  remains 
of  a  former  w^orld,  accords  with  the  order  of  creation  re- 
corded in  Genesis.  This  assertion,  though  to  a  certain  de- 
gree apparently  correct,  it  is  not  entirely  supported  by  geolo- 
gical facts ;  since  it  appears  that  the  most  ancient  marine  ani- 
mals occui  in  the  same  division  of  the  lowest  transition  strata 
with  the  earliest  remains  of  vegetables ;  so  that  the  evidence 
of  organic rjremains,  as  far  as  it  goes,  shows  the  origin  of 
these  extinct  species  of  plants  and  animals  to  have  been 


DISCOVERIES  WITH  SACRED  HISTORY.  25 

contemporaneous :  if  any  creation  of  vegetables  preceded 
that  of  these  most  ancient  animals,  no  evidence  of  such  an 
event  has  yet  been  discovered  by  the  researches  of  geology. 
Still  there  is,  I  believe,  no  sound  critical,  or  theological 
objection,  to  the  interpretation  of  the  word  "day,"  as  mean- 
ing a  long  period ;  but  there  will  be  no  necessity  for  such 
extension,  in  order  to  reconcile  the  text  of  Genesis  with 
physical  appearances,  if  it  can  be  shown  that  the  time  indi- 
cated by  the  phenomena  of  Geology*  may  be  found  in  the 
undefined  interval,  following  the  announcement  of  the  first 
verse. 

In  my  inaugural  lecture,  published  at  Oxford,  1820,  pp. 
31,  32, 1  have  stated  my  opinion  in  favour  of  the  hypothesis, 
"  which  supposes  the  word  '  beginning,^  as  applied  by  Moses 
in  the  first  verse  of  the  book  of  Genesis,  to  express  an 
undefined  period  of  time,  which  M-as  antecedent  to  the  last 
great  change  that  affected  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  to 
the  creation  of  its  present  animal  and  vegetable  inhabitants ; 
during  which  period  a  long  series  of  operations  and  revo- 
lutions may  have  been  going  on;  which,  as  they  are  wholly 
unconnected  with  the  history  of  the  human  race,  are  passed 
over  in  silence  by  the  sacred  historian,  whose  only  concern 
with  them  was  barely  to  state,  that  the  matter  of  the  uni- 
verse is  not  eternal  and  self-existent,  but  was  originally 
created  by  the  power  of  the  Almighty." 

I  have  great  satisfaction  in  finding  that  the  view  of  this 
subject,  which  I  have  here  expressed,  and  have  long  enter- 

*  A  very  interesting  treatise  on  tlic  Consistency  of  Geology  with  Sacred 
History  has  recently  been  published  at  Nevvhaven,  1833,  by  Professor  , 
SiJliman,  as  a  supplement  to  an  American  edition  of  BakewcU's  Geology, 
1833.  The  author  contends  that  the  period  alluded  to  in  the  first  verse 
of  Genesis,  "  In  the  beginning,"  is  not  necessarily  connected  with  the 
first  day,  and  that  it  may  be  regarded  as  standing  by  itself,  and  admitting 
of  any  extension  backward  in  time  which  the  facts  may  seem  to  require. 

He  is  farther  disposed  to  consider  the  six  days  of  creation  as  periods 
of  time  of  indefinite  length,  and  that  the  word  "day"  is  not  of  necessity 
limited  to  twenty-four  hours, 

VOL.  I. — 3 


36  CONSISTENCY  OF  GEOLOGICAL 

tained,  is  in  perfect  accordance  with  the  highly  valuable 
opinion  of  Dr.  Chalmers,  recorded  in  the  following  passages 
of  his  Evidence  of  the  Christian  Revelation,  chap.  vii. : — 
"  Does  Moses  ever  say,  that  when  God  created  the  heavens 
and  the  earth,  he  did  nnore,  at  the  time  alluded  to,  than  trans- 
form them  out  of  previously  existing  materials?  Or  does  he 
ever  say  that  there  was  not  an  interval  of  many  ages 
between  the  first  act  of  creation  described  in  the  first  verse 
of  the  book  of  Genesis,  and  said  to  have  been  performed  at 
the  beginning,  and  those  more  detailed  operations,  the 
account  of  which  commences  at  the  second  verse,  and  which 
are  described  to  us  as  having  been  performed  in  so  many 
days  ?  Or,  finally,  does  he  ever  make  us  to  understand  that 
the  genealogies  of  man  went  any  farther  than  to  fix  the 
antiquity  of  the  species,  and,  of  consequence,  that  they  left 
ihe  antiquity  of  the  globe  a  free  subject  for  the  speculation 
of  philosophers  ?" 

It  has  loner  been  matter  of  discussion  amonar  learned  theo- 
iogians,  whether  the  first  verse  of  Genesis  should  be  con- 
sidered prospectively,  as  containing  a  summary  announce- 
ment of  that  new  creation,  the  details  of  which  follow  in  the 
record  of  the  operations  of  the  six  successive  days :  or  as 
-an  abstract  statement  that  the  heaven  and  earth  were  made 
by  God,  without  limiting  the  period  when  that  creative  agen- 
cy was  exerted.  The  latter  of  these  opinions  is  in  perfect 
harmony  with  the  discoveries  of  Geology. 

The  Mosaic  narrative  commences  with  a  declaration 
that  "  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and  the 
earth."  These  first  few  words  of  Genesis  may  be  fairly 
appealed  to  by  the  geologist,  as  containing  a  brief  statement 
of  the  creation  of  the  material  elements,  at  a  time  distinctly 
preceding  the  operations  of  the  first  day :  it  is  no  where 
affirmed  that  God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth  in  the 
first  day,  but  in  the  beginning ;  this  beginning  may  have 
been  an  epoch  at  an  unmeasured  distance,  followed  by 
periods  of  undefined  duration,  during  which  all  the  physical 
■operations  disclosed  by  Geology  were  going  on^ 


DISCOVERIES    WITH    SACRED    HISTORY.  27 

The  first  verse  of  Genesis,  therefore,  seems  expHcitly  to 
assert  the  creation  of  the  Universe;  "  the  heaven,"  including 
the  sidereal  systems  ;*  "  and  the  earth,"  more  especially 
specifying  our  own  planet,  as  the  subsequent  scene  of  the 
operations  of  the  six  days  about  to  be  described  :  no  infor- 
mation is  given  as  to  events  which  may  have  occurred  upon 
this  earth,  unconnected  with  the  history  of  man,  between 
the  creation  of  its  component  matter  recorded  in  the  first 
verse,  and  the  era  at  which  its  history  is  resumed  in  the 
second  verse ;  nor  is  any  limit  fixed  to  the  time  during 
which  these  intermediate  events  may  have  been  going  on : 
millions  of  millions  of  years  may  have  occupied  the  indefi- 
nite interval,  between  the  beginning  in  which  God  created 
the  heaven  and  the  earth,  and  the  evening  or  commencement 
of  the  first  day  of  the  Mosaic  narrative.f 

*  Tlic  Hebrew  plural  word,  shamaim,  Gen.  i.  1,  translated  heaven, 
means  ctymologically,  the  higher  regions,  all  that  seems  above  the  earth: 
as  we  say,  God  above,  God  on  high,  God  in  heaven;  meaning  thereby  to 
express  the  presence  of  the  Deity  in  space  distinct  from  this  earth. — 
E.  B.  Pusey. 

t  r  have  mucli  satisfaction  in  subjoining  the  following  note  by  m}' 
friend,  the  Regius  Professor  of  Hebrew  in  Oxford,  as  it  enables  me  to 
advance  tiie  very  important  sanction  of  Hebrew  criticism,  in  support  of 
the  interpretations,  by  which  we  may  reconcile  the  apparent  difficulties 
arising  from  geological  phenomena  with  the  literal  interpretation  of  the 
first  chapter  of  Genesis. — "Two  opposite  errors  have,  I  think,  been  com- 
mitted by  critics,  with  regard  to  tlie  meaning  of  the  wrod  bara,  created ; 
the  one,  by  those  who  asserted  that  it  7nust  m  itself  signify  "  created  out 
of  nothing;"  tlie  other,  by  tliose  who  endeavoured  by  aid  of  etymology, 
to  show  that  it  7}iust  in  itself  signify  "  formation  out  of  existing  mat- 
ter." In  fact,  neither  is  the  case;  nor  am  I  aware  of  any  language  in 
which  there  is  a  word  signifying  necessarily  "  created  out  of  nothing ;' 
as  of  course,  on  the  other  hand,  no  word,  when  used  of  the  agency  of  God 
would,  in  itself,  imply  the  previous  existence  of  matter.  Thus  the 
English  word,  create,  by  which  baia  is  translated,  expresses  that  the 
thing  created  received  its  existence  from  God,  without  in  itself  implying 
whether  God  called  that  thing  into  existence  out  of  nothing,  or  no;  for  our 
very  addition  of  the  words  "  out  of  nothing,"  shows  that  the  word  creation 
has  not,  in  itself,  that  force :  nor  indeed,  when  we  speak  of  ourselves  as 


28  CONSISTENCY    OF    GEOLOGICAL 

The  second  verse  may  describe  the  condition  of  the  earth 
on  the  evening  of  this  first  day ;  (for  in  the  Jevv^ish  mode  of 
computation  used  by  Moses,  each  day  is  reckoned  from  the 

creatures  of  God's  hand,  do  we  at  all  mean  that  we  were  physically 
formed  out  of  nothing.  In  like  manner,  whether  bara  should  he  para- 
phrased by  "  created  out  of  nothing"  (as  far  as  we  can  comprehend  these 
words),  or,  "gave  a  new  and  distinct  state  of  existence  to  a  substance 
already  existing,"  must  depend  upon  the  context,  the  circumstances,  or 
what  God  has  elsewhere  revealed,  not  upon  the  mere  force  of  the  word. 
This  is  plain,  from  its  use  in  Gen.  i.  27,  of  the  creation  of  man,  who,  as  wo 
are  instructed,  chap.  ii.  7,  was  formed  out  of  previously  existing  matter, 
the  "  dust  of  tlie  ground."  The  word  bara  is  indeed  so  far  stronger  than 
asah,  "  made,"  in  that  bara  can  only  be  used  with  reference  to  God,  whereas 
asah  may  be  applied  to  man.  The  difference  is  exactly  that  which  exists  in 
English  between  the  words  by  which  they  are  rendered,  "created"  and 
"  made."  But  this  seems  to  me  to  belong  rather  to  our  mode  of  conception 
than  to  the  subject  itself;  for  making,  when  spoken  of  with  reference  to 
God,  is  equivalent  to  creating. 

The  words  accordingly,  bara,  created — asah — made  yatsar,  formed,  are 
used  repeatedly  by  Isaiah  and  are  also  employed  by  Amos,  as  equivalent 
to  each  other.  Bara  and  asah  express  alike  a  formation  of  something 
new  (de  novo,)  something  whose  existence  in  this  new  state,  originated 
in,  and  depends  entirely  upon  the  will  of  its  creator  or  maker.  Thus  God 
speaks  of  Himself  as  the  Creator  "  ftoree"  of  the  Jewish  people,  e.  g. 
Isaiah  xliii.  1,  15  ;  and  a  new  event  is  spoken  of  under  the  same  term  as 
a  "creation,"  JNumb.  xiv.  30.  English  version,  "  If  the  Lord  make  a  new 
thino-,"  in  the  margin,  Heb.  "  create  a  creature."  Again,  the  Psalmist 
uses  the  same  word,  Ps.  civ.  30,  when  describing  the  renovation  of  the  face 
of  the  earth  through  the  successive  generations  of  living  creatures,  "  Thou 
sendest  forth  thy  spirit,  they  are  created;  and  thou  renewest  the  face  of  the 
earth."  The  question  is  popularly  treated  by  Beausobre,  Hist,  de  Mani- 
cheisme,  torn.  ii.  lib.  5,  c.  4  ;  or,  in  a  better  spirit,  by  Pctavius  Dogm. 
Theol.  torn.  iii.  de  opificio  sex  dierum,  lib.  1,  c.  1,  §  8. 

After  having  continually  re-read  and  studied  this  account,  I  can  come 
to  no  other  result  than  that  the  words  "created"  and  "made"  are  syno- 
nvmous,  (although  the  former  is  to  us  the  stronger  of  the  two,)  and  that 
because  they  are  so  constantly  interchanged;  as,  Gen.  i.  ver.  21,  "God 
created  great  whales  :"  ver.  25,  "  God /Ha(/e  the  beast  of  the  earth;"  ver. 
26,  "  Let  us  ?;io/rc  man ;"  ver.  27,  "So  God  created  man."  At  the  same 
time  it  is  very  probable  that  bara,  "  created,''''  as  being  the  stronger 
word,  was  selected  to  describe  the  first  production  of  the  heaven  and  the 
earth. 


DISCOVERIES    WITH    SACRED    HISTORY".  29 

beginning  of  one  evening  to  the  beginning  of  another  even- 
ing.) This  first  evening  may  be  considered  as  the  termina- 
tion of  the  indefinite    time    which    followed  the  primeval 

Tlie  point,  liowcver,  upon  vvliich  the  interpretation  of  the  first  chapter 
of  Genesis  appears  to  me  really  to  turn,  is,  whether  the  first  two  verses 
are  merely  a  summary  statement  of  what  is  related  in  detail  in  the  rest 
of  the  cliajjter,  and  a  sort  of  introduction  to  it,  or  whetlicr  they  contain 
an  account  of  an  act  of  creation.  And  tliis  last  seems  to  me  to  be  their 
true  interpretation,  first,  because  tliere  is  no  other  account  of  the  creation^ 
of  the  earth;  secondly,  the  second  verse  describes  the  condition  of  the  earth' 
when  so  created,  and  thus  prepares  for  the  account  of  the  work  of  the 
six  days  ;  but  if  they  speak  of  any  creation,  it  appears  to  mc  that  this 
creation  "in  the  beginning"  was  previous  to  the  six  days,  because,  as  you 
will  observe,  the  creation  of  each  day  is  preceded  by  the  declaration  that 
God  said,  or  willed,  that  such  things  should  be  ("  and  God  said  ")  and 
therefore  the  very  form  of  the  narrative  seems  to  imply  that  the  creation 
of  the  first  day  began  when  these  words  are  first  used,  i.  c.  with  the  crea  . 
tion  of  light  in  vcr.  3.  Tiie  lime  then  of  the  creation  in  ver.  1,  appears  to 
mc  not  to  bo  defined :  we  are  told  only  what  alone  we  arc  concerned  with ; 
that  all  things  were  made  by  God.  Nor  is  this  any  new  opinion.  Many 
of  the  fathers  (they  arc  quoted  by  Petavius,  I,  c.  c.  11,  §  i. — viii.)  supposed 
the  first  two  verses  of  Genesis  to  contain  an  account  of  a  distinct  and 
prior  act  of  creation  ;  some,  as  Augustine,  Theodorct  and  others,  that 
of  the  creation  of  matter;  otiiers,  that  of  the  elements  ;  others  again  (and 
they  the  most  numerous)  imagine  that,  not  these  visible  heavens,  but  what 
tliey  think  to  be  called  elsewhere  "the  highest  heavens,"  the  "  iieaven 
of  heavens,"  are  here  spoken  of,  our  visible  heavens  being  related  to 
have  been  created  on  the  second  day.  Petavius  himself  regards  the 
light  as  the  only  act  of  creation  of  the  first  day  (c.  vii.  "  de  opere  prima? 
diei,  i.  e.  luce,")  considering  the  first  two  verses  as  a  summary  of  the 
account  of  creation  whicli  was  about  to  follow,  and  a  general  declaralion 
that  all  things  were  made  by  God. 

Episcopius  again,  and  others,  tliought  that  the  creation  and  fall  of  the 
bad  angels  took  place  in  the  interval  here  spoken  of:  and  misplaced  as 
such  speculations  are,  still  they  seem  to  show  that  it  is  natural  to  suppose 
that  a  considerable  interval  may  have  taken  place  between  the  creation, 
related  in  the  first  verse  of  Genesis  and  that  of  which  an  account  is  given 
in  the  third  and  following  verses.  Accordingly,  in  some  old  editions  of 
the  English  Bible,  where  there  is  no  division  into  verses,  you  actually 
find  a  break  at  the  end  of  what  is  now  the  second  verse;  and  in  Luther's 
Bible  (VVittcnburg,  1557)  you  have  in  addition  to  the  notation  of  the  VQrses 

3* 


30  C0NSI5TEXCY    OF    GEOLOGICAL 

creation  announced  in  the  first  verse,  and  as  the  commence- 
ment of  the  first  of  the  six  succeeding  days,  in  which  the  earth 
was  to  be  placed  in  a  condition,  and  peopled  in  a  manner  fit 
for  the  reception  of  mankind.  We  have  in  this  second  verse, 
a  distinct  mention  of  earth  and  waters,  as  already  existing, 
and  involved  in  darkness ;  their  condition  also  is  described 
as  a  state  of  confusion  and  emptiness,  {tohu  bohu,)  words 
which  are  usually  interpreted  by  the  vague  and  indefinite 
Greek  term  "  chaos,"  and  which  may  be  geologically  con- 
sidered as  designating  the  wreck  and  ruins  of  a  former 
world.  At  this  intermediate  point  of  time,  the  preceding 
undefined  geological  periods  had  terminated,  a  new  series 
of  events  commenced,  and  the  work  of  the  first  morning  of 
this  new  creation  was  the  caUinsr  forth  of  li^ht  from  a  tem- 
porary  darkness,  which  had  overspread  the  ruins  of  the 
ancient  earth.* 

the  figure  1  placed  against  the  third  verse,  as  being  the  beginning  of  the 
account  of  the  creation  on  the  first  day. 

This  then  is  just  the  sort  of  confirmation  which  one  wished  for,  because, 
though  one  would  sljrink  from  the  impiety  of  bending  the  language  of 
(too's  boolf,  to  any  other  than  its  obvious  meaning,  we  cannot  help  fear- 
ing lest  we  might  be  unconsciously  influenced  by  the  floating  opinions 
of  our  own  day,  and  therefore  turn  the  more  anxiously  to  those  who  ex- 
plained Hoi}'  Scriptures  before  these  theories  existed.  You  must  allow 
me  to  add  that  1  would  not  define  farther.  We  knovr  nothing  of  creation, 
nothing  of  ultimate  causes,  nothing  of  space,  except  what  is  bounded  b}' 
actual  existing  bodies,  notliing  of  time,  but  what  is  limited  by  the  revolu- 
tion of  those  bodies.  I  should  be  very  sorry  to  appear  to  dogmatize  upon 
that,  of  v.'hich  it  requires  very  little  reflection,  or  reverence,  to  confess  that 
wc  are  necessarily  ignorant.  "  Hardly  do  we  guess  aright  of  things  that 
are  upon  the  earth,  and  with  labour  do  wc  find  the  things  that  are  before 
us;  but  the  things  that  are  in  heaven  who  hath  searched  out?" — Wisdom, 
ix.  16.— E.  C,  Pusey. 

*  I  learn  from  Professor  Puscy  that  the  words  "  let  there  be  light,''*  yehi 
or.  Gen.  i.  3,  b}'  no  means  necessarily  imply  any  more  than  tiic  English 
words  by  which  they  are  translated,  that  light  had  never  existed  before. 
They  may  speak  only  of  the  substitution  of  light  for  darkness  upon  the 
surface  of  this,  our   planet :   whether   light   had   existed   before  in  other 


DISCOVERIES  WITH  SACRED  HISTORY.  31  . 

We  have  farther  mention  of  this  ancient  earth  and  ancient 
sea  in  the  ninth  verse,  in  which  the  waters  are  commanded 
to  be  gathered  together  into  one  place,  and  the  dry  land  to 
appear;  this  dry  land  being  the  same  earth  whose  material 
creation  had  been  announced  in  the  first  verse,  and  whose 
temporary  submersion  and  temporary  darkness  are  described 
in  the  second  verse;  the  appearance  of  the  land  and  the 
gathering  together  of  the  waters  are  the  only  facts  affirmed 
respecting  them  in  the  ninth  verse,  but  neither  land  nor 
waters  are  said  to  have  been  created  on  the  third  day. 

A  similar  interpretation  may  be  given  of  the  fourteenth 
and  four  succeeding  verses;  what  is  herein  stated  of  the 
celestial  luminaries  seems  to  be  spoken  solely  with  reference 
to  our  planet,  and  more  especially  to  the  human  race,  then 
about  to  be  placed  upon  it.  We  are  not  told  that  the  sub- 
stance of  the  sun  and  moon  were  first  called  into  existence 
upon  the  fourth  day:"*  the  text  may  equally  imply  that 
these  bodies  were  then  prepared,  and  appointed  to  certain 
offices,  of  high  importance  to  mankind ;  "  to  give  light  upon 
the  earth,  and  to  rule  over  the  day,  and  over  the  night,"  "  to 
be  for  signs,  and  for  seasons,  and  for  days,  and  for  years." 
The  fact  of  their  creation  had  been  stated  before  in  the  first 
verse.  The  stars  also  are  mentioned  (Gen.  i.  16)  in  three 
words  only,  almost  parenthetically;  as  if  for  the  sole  pur- 
pose of  announcing,  that  they  also  were  made  by  the  same 
Power,  as  those  luminaries  which  arc  more  important  to  us, 
the  sun  and  moon.f  This  very  slight  notice  of  the  count- 
less host  of  celestial  bodies,  all  of  which  are  probably  suns, 
the  centres  of  other  planetary  systems,  whilst  our  little 
satellite,  the  moon,  is  mentioned  as  next  in  importance  to  the 
sun,  shows  clearly  that  astronomical  phenomena  are  here 

parts  of  God's  creation,  or  liad  existed  upon  tliis  eartii,  before  the  darkness 
described  in  v.  2,  is  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  the  narrative. 

*  See  notes,  p.  27  and  p.  30- 

t  The  literal  translation  of  the  words  veclh  haccocabim,  is,  "  And  the 
stars." — E.  B.  Pusev, 


32  CONSISTENCY  OF  GEOLOGICAL 

spoken  of  only  according  to  their  relative  importance  to  our 
earth,  and  to  mankind,  and  without  any  regard  to  their  real 
importance  in  the  boundless  universe.  It  seems  impossible 
to  include  the  fixed  stars  among  those  bodies  which  are  said 
(Gen.  i.  v.  17,)  to  have  been  set  in  the  firmament  of  the  hea- 
ven to  give  light  upon  the  earth ;  since  without  the  aid  of 
telescopes,  by  far  the  greater  number  of  them  are  invisible. 
The  same  principle  seems  to  pervade  the  description  of 
creation  which  concerns  our  planet :  the  creation  of  its  com- 
ponent matter  having  been  announced  in  the  first  Averse,  the 
phenomena  of  Geology,  like  those  of  astronomy,  are  passed 
over  in  silence,  and  the  narrative  proceeds  at  once  to  details 
of  the  actual  creation  which  have  more  immediate  reference 
to  man.* 

*  The  following  observations  by  Bishop  Gleig  (though,  at  the  time  of 
writing  them,  he  was  not  entirely  convinced  of  the  reality  of  facts  announced 
l>y  geological  discoveries)  show  his  opinion  of  the  facility  of  so  interpreting 
the  Mosaic  account  of  creation,  as  to  admit  of  an  indefinite  lapse  of  time 
prior  to  tlie  existence  of  the  human  race. 

"  I  am  indeed  strongly  inclined  to  believe  that  the  matter  of  the  corpo- 
real universe  was  all  created  at  once,  though  different  portions  of  it  may 
have  been  reduced  to  form  at  very  different  periods ;  when  the  universe 
was  created,  or  how  long  the  solar  system  remained  in  a  chaotic  state  are 
vain  inquiries,  to  which  no  answer  can  be  given.  Moses  records  the  his- 
tory of  the  earth  only  in  its  present  state  ;  he  affirms,  indeed,  that  it  was 
created,  and  that  it  was  without  form  and  void,  when  the  spirit  of  God 
began  to  move  on  the  surface  of  the  fluid  mass;  but,  he  does  not  say 
how  long  that  mass  had  been  in  the  state  of  chaos,  or  whether  it  was,  or 
was  not  the  wreck  of  some  former  system,  which  had  been  inhabited  by 
living  creatures  of  different  kinds  from  those  which  occupy  the  present. 
I  say  this,  not  to  meet  the  objection  which  has  sometimes  been  urged 
against  the  Mosaic  cosmogony,  from  its  representing  the  works  of  crea- 
tion as  being  no  more  than  six  or  seven  thousand  years  old,  for  Moses 
gives  no  such  representation  of  the  age  of  those  works.  However  dis- 
tant the  period  may  be,  and  it  is  probably  very  distant,  when  God  created 
the  heavens  and  the  earth:  there  has  been  a  time  when  it  was  not  dis- 
tant one  year,  one  day,  or  one  hour.  Those,  therefore,  who  contend 
that  the  glory  of  the  Almighty  God  manifested  in  his  works,  cannot  be 
limited  to  the  short  period  of  six  or  seven  thousand  years,  are  not  aware 
that  the  same   objection   may  be  made  to  the  longest  period  which  can 


DISCOVERIES  WITH  SACRED  HISTORY.  33 

The  interpretation  here  proposed  seems  moreover  to 
solve  the  difiiculty,  which  would  otherwise  attend  the  state- 
ment of  the  appearance  of  light  upon  the  first  day,  whilst 
the  Sim  and  moon  and  stars  are  not  made  to  appear  until 
the  fourth.  If  we  suppose  all  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  the 
earth  to  have  been  created  at  the  indefinitely  distant  time, 
designated  by  the  word  beginning,  and  that  the  darkness 
described  on  the  evening  of  the  first  day,  was  a  temporary 
darkness,  produced  by  an  accumulation  of  dense  vapours 
"upon  the  face  of  the    deep;"  an  incipient  dispersion  of 

possibly  be  conceived  by  the  mind  of  man.  No  assignable  quantity  of  suc- 
cessive duration  bears  any  proportion  to  eternity,  and  though  we  should 
suppose  the  corporeal  universe  to  have  been  created  six  millions  or  six 
liundred  millions  of  years  ago,  a  caviller  might  still  say,  and  with  equal 
reason,  that  the  glory  of  Almighty  God  manifested  in  his  works  cannot 
be  so  limited.  It  is  not  to  silence  such  objections  as  this,  that  I  have  ad- 
mitted the  existence  of  a  former  earth  and  visible  heavens  to  be  not  incon- 
sistent with  the  cosmogony  of  Moses,  or  indeed  with  any  other  part  of  scrip- 
ture, but  only  to  prevent  the  faith  of  the  pious  reader  from  being  unsettled 
by  the  discoveries,  whether  real  or  pretended,  of  our  modern  geologists.  If 
these  philosophers  have  really  discovered  fossil  bones  that  must  have  be- 
longed to  species  and  genera  of  animals,  which  now  no  where  exist,  either 
on  the  earth  or  in  the  ocean,  and  if  the  destruction  of  these  genera  or  spe- 
cies cannot  be  accounted  for  by  the  general  deluge,  or  any  other  catastrophe 
to  which  we  know,  from  authentic  history,  that  our  globe  has  been  actually 
subjected,  or  if  it  be  a  fa(;t,  that  towards  the  surface  of  the  earth  are  found 
strata,  which  could  not  have  been  so  disposed  as  they  are,  but  by  t!ie  sea,  or 
at  least  some  watery  mass  remaining  over  them  in  a  state  of  tranquillity, 
■for  a  much  longer  period  than  the  duration  of  Noah's  flood;  if  these  things 
be  indeed  well  ascertained,  of  which  I  am  however  by  no  means  convinced, 
there  is  nothing  in  the  sacred  writings  forbidding  us  to  suppose  that  they 
are  the  ruins  of  a  former  earth,  deposited  in  the  chaotic  mass  of  which 
Moses  informed  us  tliat  God  formed  the  present  S3'stem.  His  history,  as  far 
as  it  comes  down,  is  the  history  of  the  present  earth,  and  of  the  primeval  an- 
ceators  of  its  present  inhabitants ;  and  one  of  the  most  scientific  and  inge- 
nious of  geologists  has  clearly  proved,*  that  the  human  race  cannot  bo 
much  more  ancient  than  it  appears  to  be  in  the  writings  of  the  Hebrew  law- 
giver."— Stcckhouse^s  Bible,  by  BisJiop  Gleig,  p,  6,  7,  1816, 


See  Cuvier's  Essay  on  tlio  Theory  of  the  Earth. 


34  CONSISTENCY  OF  GEOLOGICAL 

these  vapours  may  have  readmitted  light  to  the  earth,  upon 
the  first  day,  whilst  the  exciting  cause  of  light  was  still  ob- 
scured ;  and  the  farther  purfication  of  the  atmosphere,  upon 
the  fourth  day  may  have  caused  the  sun  and  moon  and 
stars  to  reappear  in  the  firmament  of  heaven,  to  assume 
their  new  relations  to  the  newly  modified  earth,  and  to  the 
human  race.* 

We  have  evidence  of  the  presence  of  light  during  long 
and  distant  periods  of  time,  in  which  the  many  extinct  fossil 
forms  of  animal  life  succeeded  one  another  upon  the  early 
surface  of  the  globe  :  this  evidence  consists  in  the  petrified 
remains  of  eyes  of  animals,  found  in  geological  formations 
of  various  ages.  In  a  future  chapter  I  shall  show,  that  the 
eyes  of  Trilobites,  which  are  preserved  in  strata  of  the  tran- 
sition formation,  (PI.  45,  Figs.  9,  10,  11,)  were  constructed 
in  a  manner  so  closely  resembling  those  of  existing  Crus- 
tacea ;  and  that  the  eyes  of  Ichthyosauri,  in  the  lias,  (PI.  10, 
Figs.  1,2,)  contained  an  apparatus,  so  like  one  in  the  eyes  of 
many  living  reptiles  and  birds,  as  to  leave  no  doubt  that  these 
fossil  eyes  were  optical  instruments,  calculated  to  receive,  in 
the  same  manner,  impressions  of  the  same  light,  which  conveys 
the  perception  of  sight  to  living  animals.  This  conclusion  is 
farther  confirmed  by  the  general  fact,  that  the  heads  of  all 
fossil  fishes  and  fossil  reptiles,  in  every  geological  formation, 
are  furnished  with  cavities  for  the  reception  of  eyes,  and 
with  perforations  for  the  passage  of  optic  nerves,  although 
the  cases  are  rare,  in  which  any  part  of  the  eye  itself  has 
been  preserved.  The  influence  of  light  is  also  so  necessary 
to  the  growth  of  existing  vegetables,  that  we  cannot  but 
infer,  that  it  was  equally  essential  to  the  development  of 
the  numerous  fossil  species  of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  which 
are  coextensive  and  coeval  with  the  remains  of  fossil  ani- 
mals. 

*  Sec  Note,  p.  30. 


mSCOVERlES    "WITH    SACRED    HISTORT.  35 

ft  appears  highly  probable  from  recent  discoveries,*  that 
J.ight  is  not  a  material  substance,  but  only  an  effect  of  undu- 
lations of  ether ;  that  this  infinitely  subtle  and  elastic  ether 
pervades  all  space,  and  even  the  interior  of  all  bodies ;  so 
long  as  it  remains  at  rest,  there  is  total  darkness ;  when 
it  is  put  into  a  peculiar  state  of  vibration,  the  sensation  of 
light  is  produced  :  this  vibration  may  be  excited  by  various 
causes ;  e.  g.  by  the  sun,  by  the  stars,  by  electricity,  com- 
bustion, &c.  If  then  hght  be  not  a  substance,  but  only  a 
series  of  vibrations  of  ether,  i.  e.  an  effect  produced  on  a 
subtile  fluid,  by  the  excitement  of  one  or  many  extraneous 
causes,  it  can  hardly  be  said,  nor  is  it  said,  in  Gen.  i.  3,  to 
have  been  a~eated,-\  though  it  may  be  literally  said  to  be 
called  into  action. 

Lastly,  in  the  reference  made  in  the  Fourth  Command- 
ment, Exod.  XX.  11,  to  the  six  days  of  the  Mosaic  creation, 
the  word  asah,  "  made,"  is  the  same  which  is  used  in  Gen. 
i.  7,  and  Gen.  i.  16,  and  which  has  been  shown  to  be  less 
strong  and  less  comprehensive  than  bara,  "  created ;"  and 
us  it  by  no  means  necessarily  implies  creation  out  of 
■nothing,  it  may  be  here  employed  to  express  a  new  arrange- 
ment of  materials  that  existed  bcfore.J 

After  all,  it  should  be  recollected  that  the  question  is  not 
respecting  the  correctness  of  the  Mosaic  narrative,  but  of 
our  interpretation  of  it ;  and  still  farther,  it  should  be  borne 
in  mind  that  the  object  of  this  account  was  not  to  state  in 
ivhat  manner  but  by  lahofu,  the  world  was  made.  As  the 
prevailing  tendency  of  men  in  those  early  days  was  to 
worship  the  most  glorious  objects  of  nature,  namely,  the 
sun  and  moon  and  stars ;  it  should  seem  to  have  been  one 
'important  point  in  the  Mosaic  account  of  creation,  to  guard 

*  For  a  general  statement  of  the  undiilatory  theory  of  light,  see  Sir 
John  Herschel!,  art.  Light,  part  iii.  sec.  2.  Encyc.  Metropol.  See  also 
Professor  Airy's  Mathematical  Tracts,  2d  edit.  1831,  p.  249 ;  and  Mrs. 
Somerville's  Connexion  of  the  Physical  Sciences,  1834,  p.  185. 

t  See  Note,  p.  30. 

t  See  Note,  p.  27. 


36  CONSISTENCY    OP    GEOLOGICAL,    ETC. 

the  Israelites  against  the  Polytheism  and  idolatry  of  the 
nations  around  them ;  by  announcing  that  all  these  mag- 
nificient  celestial  bodies  were  no  Gods,  but  the  works  of 
One  Almighty  Creator,  to  whom  alone  the  worship  of  man- 
kind is  due.* 

*  Having  tlius  far  ventured  to  enter  into  a  series  of  explanations,  whicii 
I  think  will  rceoncile  even  the  letter  of  the  text  of  Genesis  witli  the  phe- 
nomena of  Geolog-y,  I  forbear  to  say  more  on  this  important  subject,  and 
liave  much  satisfaction  in  beinf^  able  to  refer  my  readers  to  some  admirable 
articles  in  the  Christian  Observer  (May,  June,  July,  August,  1834)  for  a 
very  able  and  comprehensive  summary  of  tlie  present  state  of  this  ques- 
tion ;  explaining  the  difficulties  with  which  it  is  surrounded,  and  offering 
many  temperate  and  judicious  suggestions,  as  to  the  spirit  in  which  in- 
vestigations of  this  kind  ouglit  to  be  conducted.  I  would  also  refer  to 
Bishop  Horsley's  Sermons,  Svo.  1816,  vol.  iii.  ser.  39  ;  to  Bishop  Bird 
Sumner's  Records  of  Creation,  vol.  ii.  p.  356  ;  Douglas's  Errors  regard- 
ing Religion,  1830,  p.  261-264,  Higgins  on  the  Mosaical  and  Mineral 
Geologies,  1832;  and  more  especially  to  Professor  Sedwick's  eloquent 
and  admirable  discourse  on  the  Studies  of  the  University  of  Cambridge, 
1833,  in  which  he  has  most  ably  pointed  out  the  relations  which  Geology 
bears  to  natural  religion,  and  thus  sums  up  his  valuable  opinion  as  to  the 
kind  of  information  we  ought  to  look  for  in  the  Bible  :  "  The  Bible  in- 
structs us  that  man  and  other  living  things,  have  been  placed  but  a  few 
years  upon  the  earth;  and  the  physical  monuments  of  the  world  bear 
witness  to  the  same  truth  :  if  the  astronomer  tells  us  of  myriads  of  worlds 
not  spoken  of  in  the  sacred  records  ;  the  geologist,  in  like  manner,  proves 
(not  by  arguments  from  analogy,  but  by  the  incontrovertible  evidence 
of  physical  phenomen;;)  that  there  were  former  conditions  of  our  planet 
separated  from  each  other  by  vast  intervals  of  time,  during  v.hieh  man 
and  the  other  creatures  of  his  own  date,  had  not  been  called  into  being. 
Periods  such  as  these  belong  not,  therefore,  to  tiie  moral  history  of  our 
race,  and  come  neither  within  the  letter  nor  the  spirit  of  revelation. 
Between  the  first  creation  of  the  earth  and  that  day  in  which  it  pleased 
God  to  place  man  upon  it,  who  shall  dare  to  define  the  interval  ?  On  this 
(juestion  scripture  is  silent,  but  that  silence  destroys  not  the  meaning  of 
those  physical  monuments  of  his  pov/er  that  God  has  put  before  our  eyes, 
giving  us  at  the  same  time  faculties  whereby  VvC  may  interpret  them  and 
comprehend  their  meaning." 


PROPER  SUBJECTS  OF  GEOLOGICAL  INQUIRY.  37 


CHAPTER  III. 

Proper  Subjects  of  Geological  Inquiry. 

The  history  of  the  earth  forms  a  large  and  complex  sub- 
ject of  inquiry,  divisible  at  its  outset,  into  two  distinct 
branches ;  the  first,  comprehending  the  history  of  unorga- 
nized mineral  matter,  and  of  the  various  changes  through 
which  it  has  advanced,  from  the  creation  of  its  component 
elements  to  its  actual  condition ;  the  second,  embracing  the 
past  history  of  the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms,  and  the 
successive  modifications  which  these  tw^o  great  departments 
of  nature  have  undergone,  during  the  chemical  and  me- 
chanical operations  that  have  aflfected  the  surface  of  our 
planet.  As  the  study  of  both  these  branches  forms  the  sub- 
ject of  the  science  of  Geology,  it  is  no  less  important  to 
examine  the  nature  and  action  of  the  physical  forces,  that 
have  affected  unorganized  mineral  bodies,  than  to  investiirate 
the  laws  of  life,  and  varied  conditions  of  organization,  that 
prevailed  while  the  crust  of  our  globe  was  in  process  of 
formation. 

Before  we  enter  on  the  history  of  fossil  animals  and  vege- 
tables, we  must  therefore  first  briefly  review  the  progressive 
stages  of  mineral  formations ;  and  see  how^  far  we  can  dis- 
cover in  the  chemical  constitution,  and  mechanical  arrange- 
ment of  the  materials  of  the  earth,  proofs  of  general  pros- 
pective adaptation  to  the  economy  of  animal  and  vegetable 
life. 

As  far  as  our  planet  is  concerned,  the  first  act  of  creation 
seems  to  have  consisted  in  giving  origin  to  the  elements  of 
the  material  world.  These  inorganic  elements  appear  to 
have  received  no  subsequent  addition  to  their  number,  and 

VOL.  I. 


38  PROPER  SUBJECTS  OF  GEOLOGICAL  INQUIRY. 

to  have  undergone  no  alteration  in  their  nature  and  quaUties; 
but  to  have  been  submitted  at  their  creation  to  the  self-same 
laws  that  regulate  their  actual  condition,  and  to  have  con- 
tinued subject  to  these  law^s  during  every  succeeding  period 
of  geological  change.  The  same  elements  also  which  enter 
the  composition  of  existing  animals  and  plants,  appear  to 
have  performed  similar  functions  in  the  economy  of  many 
successive  animal  and  vegetable  creations. 

In  tracing  the  history  of  these  natural  phenomena  we 
enter  at  once  into  the  consideration  of  Geological  Dyna- 
mics, including  the  nature  and  mode  of  operation  of  all 
kinds  of  physical  agents,  that  have  at  any  time,  and  in  any 
manner,  affected  the  surface  and  interior  of  the  earth.  In 
the  foremost  rank  of  these  agents,  we  find  Fire  and  Water, 
— those  two  universal  and  mighty  antagonizing  forces, 
which  have  most  materially  influenced  the  condition  of  the 
globe  ;  and  which  man  also  has  converted  into  the  most 
efficient  instruments  of  his  power,  and  obedient  auxiliaries 
of  his  mechanical  and  chemical  and  culinary  operations. 

The  state  of  the  ingredients  of  crystalline  rocks  has,  in  a 
great  degree  been  influenced  by  chemical  and  electro-mag- 
netic forces ;  whilst  that  of  stratified  sedimentary  deposites 
has  resulted  chieffy  from  the  mechanical  action  of  moving 
water,  and  has  occasionally  been  modified  by  large  admix- 
tures of  animal  and  vegetable  remains. 

As  the  action  of  all  these  forces  will  be  rendered  most 
intelligible  by  examples  of  their  effects,  I  at  once  refer  my 
readers  for  a  synoptic  view  of  them,  to  the  section  which 
forms  the  first  of  my  series  of  plates.*  The  object  of  this 
section  is,  first,  to  represent  the  order  in  which  the  succes- 
sive series  of  stratified  formations  are  on  one  another,  almost 
like  courses  of  masonry ;  secondly,  to  mark  the  changes 
that  occur  in  their  mineral  and  mechanical  condition;  thirdly, 

*  The  detailed  explanation  of  tliis  section  is  given  in  the  description  of 
the  plates  in  vol.  ii. 


RELATION  OF  UN5TRATIFIED  TO   STRATIFIED  ROCKS.  39 

to  show  the  manner  in  which  all  stratified  rocks  have  at 
various  periods  been  disturbed,  by  the  intrusion  of  unstratified 
crystalline  rocks;  and  variously  affected  by  elevations, 
depressions,  fractures,  and  dislocations ;  fourthly,  to  give 
examples  of  the  alterations  in  the  forms  of  animal  and  vegeta- 
ble Hfe,  that  have  accompanied  these  changes  of  the  mine- 
ral conditions  of  the  earth. 

From  the  above  section  it  appears  that  there  are  eight 
distinct  varieties  of  the  crystalline  unstratified  rocks,  and 
twenty-eight  well  defined  divisions  of  the  stratified  forma- 
tions. Taking  the  average  maximum  thickness  of  each  of 
these  divisions,  at  one  thousand  feet,*  we  should  have  a 
total  amount  of  more  than  five  miles  ;  but  as  the  transition 
and  primary  strata  very  much  exceed  this  average,  the 
aggregate  of  all  the  European  stratified  series  may  be  con- 
sidered to  be  at  least  ten  miles. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Relation  of  Unstratified  to  Stratified  Rocks. 

I  SHALL  enter  into  no  farther  details  respecting  the  compo- 
nent members  of  each  group  of  stratified  rocks,  than  are 
represented  by  the  fines  of  division  and  colours  upon  the 
section.f     They  are  arranged  under   the  old   divisions  of 

*  Many  formations  greatly  exceed,  whilst  others  fall  short,  of  the  average 
here  taken. 

t  For  particular  information  respecting  the  mineral  character  and  or- 
ganic remains  of  the  strata  composing  each  series,  I  must  refer  to  the 
numerous  publications  that  have  been  devoted  to  these  subjects.  A  most 
convenient  summary  of  the  contents  of  these  publications  will  be  found 
in  De  La  Beche's  Manual  of  Geology,  and  in  Von  Meyer's  Paljeologica, 
(Frankfurt,  1832;)  ample  details  respecting  the  English  strata  are  given 


40  RELATION  OF  UNSTRATIFIED 

primary,  transition,  secondary,  and  tertiary  series,  more 
from  a  sense  of  the  convenience  of  this  long  received 
arrangement,  than  from  the  reahty  of  any  strongly  defined 
boundaries  by  M^hich  the  strata,  on  the  confines  of  each 
series,  are  separated  from  one  another. 

As  the  materials  of  stratified  rocks  are  in  great  degree 
derived,  directly  or  indirectly,  from  those  w^hich  are  unstra- 
tified,*  it  will  be  prematm'e  to  enter  upon  the  consideration 
of  derivative  strata,  until  we  have  considered  briefly  the  his- 
tory of  the  primitive  formations.  We  therefore  commence 
our  inquiry  at  that  most  ancient  period,  when  there  is  much 
evidence  to  render  it  probable  that  the  entire  materials  of 
the  globe  were  in  a  fluid  state,  and  that  the  cause  of  this 
fluidity  was  heat.  The  form  of  the  earth  being  that  of  an 
oblate  spheroid,  compressed  at  the  poles,  and  enlarged  at 
the  equator,  is  that  which  a  fluid  mass  would  assume  from 
revolution  round  its  axis.  The  farther  fact,  that  the  shortest 
diameter  coincides  with  the  existing  axis  of  rotation,  shows 
that  this  axis  has  been  the  same  ever  since  the  crust  of  the 
earth  attained  its  present  solid  form. 

Assuming  that  the  whole  materials  of  the  globe  may  have 

in  Conybearc  and  Phillips's  Geology  of  England  and  Wales.  See  also 
Bakewell's  Introduction  to  Geology,  1833;  and  Professor  Phillips's  arti- 
cle  Geology,  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Metropolitana ;  also  Professor  Phillips's 
Guide  to  Geology,  8vo.  1834;  and  Dc  La  Bcclie's  Researches  in  Theo- 
retical Geology,  8vo.  1834.  The  history  of  the  organic  remains  of  the 
tertiary  period  has  been  most  ably  elucidated  in  Lyell's  Principles  of 
Geology. 

*  In  speaking  of  crystalline  rocks  of  supposed  igneous  origin  as  unstra- 
tificd,  we  adopt  a  distribution  wliicli,  though  not  strictly  accurate,  has  long 
been  in  general  use  among  geologists.  Ejected  masses  of  granite,  basalt, 
and  lava  have  frequently  horizontal  partings,  dividing  them  into  beds  of 
various  extent  and  tliickness,  sucli  as  those  wliich  are  most  remarkable  in 
what  the  Wernerians  have  called  the  Floctz  trap  formation,  PI.  1,  section 
Fig.  6. ;  but  they  do  not  present  that  subdivision  into  successions  of  small 
beds,  and  still  smaller  laminae,  which  usually  exists  in  sedimentary  strata 
that  have  been  deposited  by  the  action  of  water. 


TO  STRATIFIED  ROCKS  41 

once  been  in  a  fluid,  or  even  in  a  nebular  state,*  from  the  pre- 
sence of  intense  heat,  the  passage  of  the  first  consolidated 
portions  of  this  fluid,  or  nebulous  matter,  to  a  solid  state 
may  have  been  produced  by  the  radiation  of  heat  from  its 
surface  into  space ;  the  gradual  abstraction  of  such  heat 
would  allow  the  particles  of  matter  to  approximate  and 
crystallize  ;  and  the  first  result  of  this  crystallization  might 
have  been  the  formation  of  a  shell  or  crust,  composed'  of 
oxidated  metals  and  metalloids,  constituting  various  rocks 
of  the  granitic  series,  around  an  incandescent  nucleus,  of 
melted  matter,  heavier  than  granite ;  such  as  forms  the  moi'e 
weighty  substance  of  basalt  and  compact  lava. 

It  is  now  unnecessary  to  dwell  on  controversies  which 
have  prevailed  during  the  last  half  century,  respecting  the 
origin  of  this  large  and  important  class  of  unstratified  crys- 
talline rocks,  which  the  common  consent  of  nearly  all  mo-, 
dern  geologists  and  chemists  refers  to  the  action  of  fire. 
The  agency  of  central  heat,  and  the  admission  of  water  to 
the  metalloid  bases  of  the  earths  and  alkalis,  ofler  two  causes 
which,  taken  singly  or  conjointly,  seem  to  explain  the  pro- 
duction and  state  of  the  mineral  ingredients  of  these  rocks; 
and  to  account  for  many  of  the  grand  mechanical  move- 
ments that  have  affected  the  crust  of  the  globe. 

The  gradations  are  innumerable,  which  connect  the  in- 
finite varieties  of  granite,  syenite,  porphyry,  greenstone,  and 
basalt  with  the  trachytic  porphyries  and  lavas  that  are  at 
this  day  ejected  by  volcanos.  Although  there  still  remain 
some  difficulties  to  be  explained,  there  is  little  doubt  that 
the  fluid  condition  in  which  all  unstratified  crystalline  rocks 

*  The  nebular  hypothesis  oTers  the  most  simple,  and  therefore  the  most 

probable  theory,  respecting  the  first  condition  of  the  material  elements  that 

compose   our  solar  system.     Mr.  Whewell    has  shown   how  far  this  theory 

supposing  it  to  be  established,  would   tend  to   exalt  our   conviction   of  the 

prior  existence  of  some  presiding  Intelligence.— Bridjewuter  Treatises,  No.. 

HI.  Chap.  vii. 

4*  . 


42  RELATION  OF  UNSTRATIFIED 

originally  existed,  was  owing  to  the  solvent  power  of  heat ; 
a  power  whose  effect  in  melting  the  most  solid  materials  of  the 
earth  we  witness  in  the  fusion  of  the  hardest  metals,  and  of 
the  flinty  materials  of  glass.* 

Beneath  the  whole  series  of  stratified  rocks  that  appear 
on  the  surface  of  the  globe  (see  section  PI.  1,)  there  proba- 
bly exists  a  foundation  of  unstratified  rocks ;  bearing  an  ir- 
regular surface,  from  the  detritus  of  which  the  materials  of 
stratified  rocks  have  in  great  measure  been  derived,f  amount- 
ing, as  we  have  stated,  to  a  thickness  of  many  miles.  This 
is  indeed  but  a  small  depth,  in  comparison  with  the  diame- 
ter of  the  globe ;  but  small  as  it  is,  it  affords  certain  evidence 
of  a  long  series  of  changes  and  revolutions ;  affecting  not 
only  the  mineral  condition  of  the  nascent  surface  of  the  earth, 
but  attended  also  by  important  alterations  in  animal  and  ve- 
getable life. 

The  detritus  of  the  first  dry  lands,  being  drifted  into  the 
sea,  and  there  spread  out  into  extensive  beds  of  mud  and 

*  The  experiments  of  Mr.  Gregory  Walt  on  bodies  cooled  slowly  after 
fusion  ;  and  of  Sir  James  Hall,  on  reprodueinn-  artificial  crystalline  rocks, 
from  the  pounded  ingredients  of  the  same  rocks  highly  heated  under 
strong  pressure  :  and  the  more  recent  experiments  of  Professors  Mitscher- 
lich  and  Bcrthier,  on  the  production  of  artificial  crystals,  by  fusion  of  definite 
proportions  of  their  component  elements,  have  removed  many  of  the  objections, 
which  were  once  urged  against  the  igneous  origin  of  crystalline  rocks. 

Professor  Kersten  has  found  distinctly  formed  crystals  of  prismatic  Fel- 
spar on  the  walls  of  a  furnace  in  which  Copper  slate  and  Copper  Ores  had 
been  melted.  Among  these  jnjrochemically  formed  crystals,  some  were  sim- 
ple, others  twin.  They  are  composed  of  Silica,  Alumina,  and  Potash.  This 
discovery  is  very  important,  in  a  geological  point  of  view,  from  its  bearing  on  the 
theory  of  the  igneous  origin  of  crystalline  rocks,  in  which  Felspar  is  usually 
so  large  an  ingredient.  Hitherto  every  attempt  to  make  felspar  crystals  by 
artificial  means  has  failed.  See  Poggendorf's  Annalen,  No.  22,  1834,  and 
Jameson's  Edin.  New.  Phil.  Journal. 

t  Either  directly,  by  the  accumulation  of  the  ingredients  of  disintegrated 
granitic  rocks,  or  indirectly,  by  the  repeated  destruction  of  different  classes 
of  stratified  rocks,  the  materials  of  which  had,  by  prior  operations,  been  de- 
rived from  unstratified  formations. 


TO  STRATIFIED  HOCKS.  43 

sand  and  gravel,  would  for  ever  have  reaiained  beneath  the 
surface  of  the  water,  had  not  other  forces  been  subsequently 
employed  to  raise  them  into  dry  land :  these  forces  appear  to 
have  been  the  same  expansive  powers  of  heat  and  vapour 
which,  having  caused  the  elevation  of  the  first  raised  por- 
tions of  the  fundamental  crystalline  rocks,  continued  their 
energies  through  all  succeeding  geological  epochs,  and  still 
exert  them  in  producing  the  phenomena  of  active  volcanos; 
phenomena  incomparably  the  most  violent  that  now  appear 
upon  the  surface  of  our  planet.* 

The  evidence  of  design  in  the  employment  of  forces, 
which  have  thus  effected  a  grand  general  purpose,  viz.  that 
of  forming  dry  land,  by  elevating  strata  from  beneath  the 
waters  in  which  they  were  deposited,  stands  independent 
of  the  truth  or  error  of  contending  theories,  respecting  the 
origin  of  that  most  ancient  class  of  stratified  rocks,  which 
are  destitute  of  organic  remains  (see  pi.  1. — section  1,  2, 3,  4, 
5,  6,  7.)  It  is  immaterial  to  the  present  question,  whether 
they  were  formed  (according  to  the  theory  of  Hutton)  from 
the  detritus  of  the  earlier  granitic  rocks,  spread  forth  by 
water  into  beds  of  clay  and  sand;  and  subsequently  modi- 

•  "The  fact  of  great  and  frequent  alteration  in  tlie  relative  level  of  the 
sea  and  land  is  so  well  established,  that  the  only  remaining  questions  re- 
gard the  mode  in  which  these  alterations  have  been  effected,  whether  by- 
elevation  of  the  land  itself,  or  subsidence  in  the  level  of  the  sea?  And 
the  nature  of  the  force  which  has  produced  tiiem?  Tlie  evidence  in 
proof  of  great  and  frequent  movements  of  the  land  itself,  botii  by  pro- 
trusion and  subsidence,  and  of  the  connexion  of  these  movements  with 
the  operations  of  volcanos,  is  so  various  and  so  strong,  derived  from  so 
many  different  quarters  on  the  surface  of  the  globe,  and  every  day  so 
mucli  extended  by  recent  inquiry,  as  almost  to  demonstrate  that  these 
have  been  the  causes  by  which  those  great  revolutions  were  effected; 
and  that  although  the  action  of  the  inward  forces  which  protrude  the  land 
has  varied  greatly  in  different  countries,  and  at  different  periods,  they  are 
now  and  ever  have  been  incessantly  at  work  in  operating  present  change 
and  preparing  the  way  for  future  alteration  in  the  exterior  of  the  globe." — 
Geological  sketcli  of  the  Vicinity  of  Hastings,  by  Dr.  Titton,  pp.  85,  86. 


44  EELATION  OF  UNSTRATIFIED  TO  STRATIFIED  ROCKS. 

fied  by  heat :  or  whether  they  have  been  produced,  (as  was 
maintained  by  Werner)  by  chemical  precipitation  from  a 
fluid,  having  other  powers  of  solution  than  those  possessed 
by  the  waters  of  the  present  ocean.  It  is  of  little  impor- 
tance to  our  present  purpose,  whether  the  non-appearance 
of  animals  and  vegetables  in  these  most  ancient  strata  was 
caused  by  the  high  temperature  of  the  waters  of  the  ocean, 
in  which  they  are  mechanically  deposited;  or  by  the  com- 
pound nature  and  uninhabitable  condition  of  a  primeval 
fluid,  holding  their  materials  in  solution.  All  observers 
admit  that  the  strata  were  formed  beneath  the  water,  and 
have  been  subsequently  converted  into  dry  land:  and  what- 
ever may  have  been  the  agents  that  caused  the  movements 
of  the  gross  unorganized  materials  of  the  globe;  we  find 
sufficient  evidence  of  prospective  wisdom  and  design,  in  the 
benefits  resulting  from  these  obscure  and  distant  revolutions, 
to  future  races  of  terrestrial  creatures,  and  more  especially 
to  Man.* 

•  In  describing-  g-eological  phenomena,  it  is  impossible  to  avoid  the  use 
of  theoretical  terms,  and  the  provisional  adoption  of  many  theoretical 
opinions  as  to  the  manner  in  which  these  phenomena  have  been  pro- 
duced. From  among  the  various  and  conflicting'  theories  that  have  been 
proposed  to  explain  the  most  difficult  and  complicated  problems  of  Geo- 
log}',  I  select  those  which  appear  to  carry  with  them  the  higliest  degree  of 
probability;  but  as  results  remain  the  same  from  whatever  cause  they  have 
originated,  the  force  of  inferences  from  these  results  will  be  unaffected  by 
changes  that  may  arise  in  our  opinions  as  to  the  physical  causes  by  which 
these  have  been  produced.  As  in  estimating  the  merits  of  the  highest  pro- 
ductions of  human  art  it  is  not  requisite  to  understand  perfectly  tlie  nature 
of  the  machinery  by  which  the  work  has  been  effected  in  order  to  appre- 
ciate the  skill  and  talent  of  the  artist  by  whom  it  was  contrived;  so  our 
minds  may  be  fully  impressed  with  a  perception  of  the  magnificent  results 
of  creative  intelligence,  which  are  visible  in  tlie  phenomena  of  nature,  al- 
though we  can  but  partially  comprehend  the  meclianlsm  that  has  been  in- 
strumental  to  their  production;  and  although  the  full  development  of  the 
workings  of  the  material  instruments  by  which  they  were  effc.'cted,  has  not 
yet  been,  and  perhaps  may  never  be,  vouchsafed  to  the  prying  curiosity  of 
man. 


VOLCANIC  UOCKS,  BASALT,  AND  TRAP.  45 

In  unstratified  crystalline  rocks,  wholly  destitute  of  animal 
or  vegetable  remains,  we  search  in  vain  for  those  most  ob- 
vious evidences  of  contrivance,  which  commence  with  the 
first  traces  of  organic  life,  in  strata  of  the  transition  period ; 
the  chief  agencies  which  these  rocks  indicate,  are  those  of 
fire  and  water ;  and  yet  even  here  we  find  proof  of  system 
and  intention,  in  the  purpose  which  they  have  accompUshed, 
of  supplying  and  accumulating  at  the  bottom  of  the  water 
the  materials  of  stratified  formations,  which  in  after  times, 
were  to  be  elevated  into  dry  lands,  in  an  ameliorated  con- 
dition of  fertility.  Still  more  decisive  are  the  evidences  of 
design  and  method,  which  arise  from  the  consideration  of 
the  structure  and  composition  of  their  crystalline  mineral  in- 
gredients. In  every  particle  of  matter  to  which  crystalhza- 
tion  has  been  applied,  we  recognise  the  action  of  those  un- 
deviating  laws  of  polar  forces,  and  chemical  affinity,  which 
have  given  to  all  crystallized  bodies  a  series  of  fixt  definite 
forms  and  definite  compositions.  Such  universal  preva- 
lence of  law,  method,  and  order  assuredly  attests  the  agency 
of  some  presiding  and  controlling  mind. 

A  farther  argument,  which  will  be  more  insisted  on  in 
speaking  on  the  subject  of  metallic  veins,  may  be  founded 
on  the  dispensation  whereby  the  primary  and  transition 
rocks  are  made  the  principal  repositories  of  many  valuable 
metals,  which  are  of  such  peculiar  and  indispensable  impor- 
tance to  mankind. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Volcanic  Rocks,  Basalt,  and  Trap. 

In  the  state  of  tranquil  equilibrium  which  our  planet  has 
attained  in  the  region  we  inhabit,  we  are  apt  to  regard  the 
foundation  of  the  solid  earth,  as  an  emblem  of  duration  and 


46  VOLCANIC  ROCKS, 

stability.  Very  different  are  the  feelings  of  those  whose  lot 
is  cast  near  the  foci  of  volcanic  eruptions ;  to  them  the  earth 
affords  no  stable  resting  place,  but  during  the  paroxysms  of 
volcanic  activity,  reels  to  and  fro,  and  vibrates  beneath  their 
feet;  overthroM^ing  cities,  yavsrning  with  dreadful  chasms, 
converting  seas  into  dry  lands,  and  dry  lands  into  seas.  (See 
Lyell's  Geology,  vol.  i.  passim.) 

To  the  inhabitants  of  such  districts  we  speak  a  language 
which  they  fully  comprehend,  when  we  describe  the  crust 
of  the  globe  as  floating  on  an  internal  nucleus  of  molten 
elements;  they  have  seen  these  molten  elements  burst  forth 
in  liquid  streams  of  lava;  they  have  felt  the  earth  beneath 
them  quivering  and  roUing,  as  if  upon  the  billows  of  a  sub- 
terranean sea;  they  have  seen  mountains  raised  and  valleys 
depressed  almost  in  an  instant  of  time ;  they  can  duly  ap- 
preciate, from  sensible  experience,  the  force  of  the  terms  in 
which  geologists  describe  the  tremulous  throes,  and  convul- 
sive agitations  of  the  earth ;  during  the  passage  of  its  strata 
from  the  bottom  of  the  seas,  in  which  they  received  their 
origin,  to  the  plains  and  mountains  in  which  they  find  their 
present  place  of  rest. 

We  see  that  the  streams  of  earthy  matter,  which  issue 
in  a  state  of  fusion  from  active  volcanos,  are  spread  around 
their  craters  in  sheets  of  many  kinds  of  lava;  some  of  these 
so  much  resemble  beds  of  basalt,  and  various  trap  rocks, 
that  occur  in  districts  remote  from  any  existing  volcanic 
vent  as  to  render  it  probable  that  the  latter  also  have  been 
poured  forth  from  the  interior  of  the  earth.  We  farther  find 
the  rocks  adjacent  to  volcanic  craters,  intersected  by  rents 
and  fissures,  which  have  been  filled  with  injections  of  more 
recent  lava,  forming  transverse  walls  or  dikes.  Similar 
dikes  occur  not  only  in  districts  occupied  by  basalt  and 
trap  rocks,  at  a  distance  from  the  site  of  any  modern 
volcanic  activity;  but  also  in  strata  of  every  formation, 
from  the  most  ancient  primary,  to  the  most  recent  tertiary 
(see  Plate  1.  section  f  1— f  8.  h  1— h  2.  i  1— i  5:)  and  as 


BASALT,    AND    TRAP.  47 

the  mineral  characters  of  these  dikes  present  insensible 
gradations,  from  a  state  of  compact  lava,  through  infinite 
varieties  of  greenstone,  serpentine,  and  porphyry  to  granite, 
we  refer  them  all  to  a  common  igneous  origin. 

The  sources  from  which  the  matter  of  these  ejected 
rocks  ascends  are  deeply  seated  beneath  the  granite ;  but  it 
is  not  yet  decided  whether  the  immediate  cause  of  an  erup- 
tion be  the  access  of  water  to  local  accumulations  of  the 
metalloid  bases  of  the  earths  and  alkalies  ;  or  whether  lava 
be  derived  directly  from  that  general  mass  of  incandescent 
elements,  which  may  probably  exist  at  a  depth  of  about  one 
hundred  miles  beneath  the  surface  of  om*  planet.* 

Our  section  shows  how  closely  the  results  of  volcanic 
forces  now  in  action  are  connected,  both  wdth  the  pheno- 
mena of  basaltic  formations,  and  also  with  the  more  ancient 
eruptions  of  greenstone,  porphyry,  syenite,  and  granite. 
The  intrusion  both  of  dikes  and  irregular  beds  of  unstrati- 
lied  crystalline  matter,  into  rocks  of  every  age  and  every 
formation,  all  proceeding  upwards  from  an  unknown  depth, 
and  often  accumulated  into  vast  masses  overlying  the  sur- 
face of  stratified  rocks,  are  phenomena  coextensive  with 
the  globe. 

Throughout  all  these  operations,  however  turbulent  and 
apparantly  irregular,  we  see  ultimate  proofs  of  method  and 
design,  evinced  by  the  uniformity  of  the  laws  of  matter  and 
motion,  which  have  ever  regulated  the  chemical  and  me- 
chanical forces  by  which  such  grand  efl^ects  have  been  pro- 
duced. If  we  view  their  aggregate  results,  in  causing  the 
elevation  of  land  from  beneath  the  sea,  we  shall  find  that 
volcanic  forces  assume  a  place  of  the  highest  importance, 
among  the  second  causes  which  have  influenced  the  past, 
as  well  as  the  present  condition  of  the  globe ;  each  indi- 
vidual movement  has  contributed  its  share  towards  the  final 
object,  of  conducting  the  molten  materials  of  an  uninhabita- 

•  See  Cordier  on  the  internal  temperature  of  the  earth. 


48  PRIMARY    STRATIFIED    ROCKS. 

ble  planet,  through  long  successions  of  change  and  of  con- 
vulsive movements,  to  a  tranquil  state  of  equilibrium ;  in 
which  it  has  become  the  convenient  and  delightful  habita- 
tion of  man,  and  of  the  multitudes  of  terrestrial  creatures  that 
are  his  fellow  tenants  of  its  actual  surface.* 


CHAPTER  VJ. 

Primary  Stratified  Rocks. 

In  the  summary  we  have  given  of  the  leading  phenomena 
of  unstratified  and  volcanic  rocks,  we  have  unavoidably 
been  led  into  theoretical  speculations,  and  have  seen  that 
the  most  probable  explanation  of  these  phenomena  is  found 
in  the  hypothesis  of  the  original  fluidity  of  the  entire  mate- 
rials of  the  earth,  caused  by  the  presence  of  intense  heat. 
From  this  fluid  mass  of  metals,  and  metalloid  bases  of  the 
earths,  and  alkalies,  the  first  granitic  crust  appears  to  have 
been  formed,  by  oxidation  of  these  bases ;  and  subsequently 
broken  into  fragments,  disposed  at  unequal  levels  above  and 
below  the  surface  of  the  first  formed  seas. 

Wherever  solid  matter  rose  above  the  water,  it  became 
exposed  to  destruction  by  atmospheric  agents ;  by  rains, 
torrents,  and  inundations ;  at  that  time  probably  acting  with 
intense  violence,  and  washing  down  and  spreading  forth,  in 
the  form  of  mud  and  sand  and  gravel,  upon  the  bottom  of  the 
then  existing  seas,  the  materials  of  primary  stratified  rocks, 
which  by  subsequent  exposure  to  various  degrees  of  sub- 
terranean heat,  became  converted  into  beds  of  gneiss,  and 
mica  slate,  and  hornblende  slate,  and  clay  slate.     In  the 

*  See  farther  details  respcctinff  the  effects  of  volcanic  forces  in  the 
description  of  PI.  I.  Vol.  ii. 


PRIMARY  SRATIFIED  ROCKS  49 

detritus  thus  swept  from  the  earliest  lands  into  the  most 
ancient  seas,  we  view  the  commencement  of  that  enormous 
series  of  derivative  strata  which,  by  long  continued  repeti- 
tion of  similar  processes,  have  been  accumulated  to  a  thick 
ness  of  many  miles.* 

*  Mr,  Conybcare  (in  his  admirable  Report  on  Geology  to  the  British  As- 
sociation  for  the  advancement  of  Science,  1832,  p.  367)  shows,  that  many 
of  the  most  important  principles  of  the  igneous  theory,  which  has  been  al- 
most demonstrated  by  modern  discoveries,  had  been  anticipated  by  the  uni- 
versal Leibnitz  "  In  ihc  fourth  section  of  his  Protogaea,  Leibnitz  presents 
us  with  a  masterly  sketch  of  his  general  views,  and,  perhaps,  even  in  the 
present  day,  it  would  be  difficult  to  lay  down  more  clearly  the  fundamental 
positions  which  must  be  necessarily  common  to  every  theory,  attributing 
geological  phenomena  in  great  measure  to  central  igneous  agency.  He 
attributes  the  primary  and  fundamental  rocks  to  the  refrigeration  of  the 
crust  of  this  volcanic  nucleus;  an  assumption  which  well  accords  with  the 
now  almost  universally  admitted  igneous  origin  of  the  fundamental  granite, 
and  with  the  structure  of  the  primitive  slates,  for  the  insensible  gradation 
of  these  formations  appears  to  prove  that  gneiss  must  have  undergone  in  a 
greater,  and  mica  slate  in  a  less  degree  the  same  action  of  which  the  inaAi 
rnuni  intensity  produced  granite. 

"The  dislocations  and  deranged  position  of  the  strata  he  attributes  to 
the  breaking  in  of  vast  vaults,  which  the  vesicular  and  cavernous  struc- 
ture assumed  by  masses,  during  their  refrigeration  from  a  state  of  fusion 
must  necessarily  have  occasioned  in  the  crust,  thus  cooling  down  and 
consolidated.  He  assigns  the  weight  of  the  materials  and  the  eruption 
of  elastic  vapours  as  tlie  concurrent  causes  of  tlicse  disruptions;  to  which 
we  should  perhaps  add,  that  the  oscillations  of  the  surface  of  the  still  fluid 
nucleus  may,  independently  of  any  such  cavities,  have  readily  shattered  into 
fragments  the  refrigerated  portion  of  the  crust;  especially,  as  at  this  early 
period,  it  must  have  been  necessarily  very  tliin,  and  resembling  chiefly  the 
seorisc  floating  on  a  surface  of  lava  just  beginning  to  cool.  He  justly  adds, 
that  these  disruptions  of  the  crust  must,  from  the  disturbances  commmiv 
cated  to  the  incumbent  waters,  have  been  necessarily  attended  with  diluvial 
action  on  the  largest  scale.  When  these  waters  had  subsequently,  in  the 
intervals  of  quiescence  between  these  convulsions,  deposited  the  materials 
tirst  acquired  by  their  force  of  attrition,  these  sediments  formed,  by  their 
consolidation,  various  stony  and  earthy  strata.  Thus,  he  observes,  we  may 
recognise  a  double  origin  of  the  rocky  masses,  the  one  by  refrigeration  from 
iffneous  fusion,  (whicii,  as  we  have  seen,  he  considered  principally  to  be  us- 

VOL.  I. — 5 


50  PRIMARY  STRATIFIED  ROCKS. 

The  total  absence  of  organic  remains  throughout  those 
lowest  portions  of  these  strata,  which  have  been  called  pri- 
mary, is  a  fact  consistent  with  the  hypothesis  which  forms 
part  of  the  theory  of  gradual  refrigeration;  viz.  that  the 
waters  of  the  first  formed  oceans  were  too  much  heated  to 
have  been  habitable  by  any  kind  of  organic  beings.* 

In  these  most  ancient  conditions,  both  of  land  and  water, 
Geology  refers  us  to  a  state  of  things  incompatible  with  the 
existence  of  animal  and  vegetable  life ;  and  thus  on  the  evi- 
dence of  natural  phenomena,  establishes  the  important  fact 
that  we  find  a  starting  point,  on  this  side  of  which  all  forms, 
both  of  animal  and  vegetable  beings,  must  have  had  a 
beginning. 

As,  in  the  consideration  of  other  strata,  we  find  abundant 
evidence  in  the  presence  of  organic  remains,  in  proof  of  the 
exercise  of  creative  power,  and  wisdom,  and  goodness, 
attending  the  progress  of  life,  through  all  its  stages  of 
advancement  upon  the  surface  of  the  globe ;  so,  from  the 
absence  of  organic  remains  in  the  primary  strata,  we  may 
derive  an  important  argument,  showing  that  there  was  a 
point  of  time  in  the  history  of  our  planet,  (which  no  other 
researches  but  those  of  geology  can  possibly  approach,)  ante- 
cedent to  the  beginning  of  either  animal  or  vegetable  fife. 
This  conclusion  is  the  more  important,  because  it  has  been 
the  refuge  of  some  speculative  philosophers  to  refer  the  ori- 

signable  to  the  primary  and  fundamcnlal  rocks,)  the  oilier  by  concretion 
from  a<[ueou3  solution.  We  have  here  distinctly  stated  the  great  basis  of 
every  scientific  classification  of  rock  formalioris.  By  the  repetition  of  sinii- 
iar  causes  (i,  e.  disruption  of  the  crust  and  consequent  inundations)  frequent 
clternations  of  new  strata  were  produced,  until  at  length  these  cuuscs  having 
been  reduced  to  a  condition  of  quiescent  equilibrium,  a  more  permancnr. 
slate  of  tilings  emerged.  Have  we  not  here  clearly  indicated  the  data  on. 
which,  what  may  be  termed  the  chronological  investigation  of  the  series  or 
ecological  phenomena,  must  ever  proceed?" 

*  So  long  a^  the  temperature  of  tlie  earth  continued  intensely  high,  water 
could  have  existed  only  in  the  state  of  steam  or  vapour,  floating  in  the  at- 
jnosphere  around  the  incandescent  surface. 


PRIMARY    STRATIFIED    ROCKS.  51 

gin  of  existing  organizations,  either  to  an  eternal  succession 
of  the  same  species,  or  to  the  formation  of  more  recent  from 
more  ancient  species,  by  successive  developments,  without 
the  interposition  of  direct  and  repeated  acts  of  creation  ;  and  ^ 
thus,  to  deny  the  existence  of  any  first  term,  in  the  infinite 
series  of  successions  which  this  hypothesis  assumes.  Against  ^ 
this  theory,  no  decisive  evidence  has  been  accessible,  until 
the  modern  discoveries  of  geology  had  established  two  con- 
clusions of  the  highest  value  in  relation  to  this  long  disputed 
question :  the  first  proving,  that  existing  species  have  had 
a  beginning ;  and  this  at  a  period  comparatively  recent  in 
the  physical  history  of  our  globe  :  the  second  showing  that 
they  were  preceded  by  several  other  systems  of  animal  and 
vegetable  life,  respecting  each  of  which  it  may  no  less  be 
proved,  that  there  was  a  time  when  their  existence  had  not 
commenced ;  and  that  to  these  more  ancient  systems  also, 
the  doctrine  of  eternal  succession  both  retrospective  and 
prospective,  is  equally  inapplicable.* 

Having  this  evidence  both  of  the  beginning  and  end  of 
several  systems  of  organic  life,  each  affording  internal  proof 
of  the  "^repeated  exercise  of  creative  design,  and  wisdom, 
and  power,  we  are  at  length  conducted  back  to  a  period 
anterior  to  the  earliest  of  these  systems ;  a  period  in  which 

*  Mr.  Lyell,  in  the  first  four  chapters  of  the  second  volume  of  his  Prin- 
ciples of  Gcolojry,  has  very  ably  and  candidly  examined  tlie  arguments  that 
have  bepn  advanced  in  support  of  the  doctrine  of  transmutation  of  species, 
and  arrives  at  the  conclusion, — "  that  species  have  a  real  existence  in  nature, 
and  that  each  was  endowed,  at  the  time  of  its  creation,  with  the  attributes 
and  organization  by  which  it  is  now  distitiguished." 

Mr.  Do  la  Beche  also  says  (Geological  Researches,  1S34,  p.  239,  1st,  edit. 
8vo.)  "  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  many  plants  can  adapt  themselves  to 
altered  conditions,  and  many  animals  accommodate  tliemselves  to  different 
climates  ;  but  when  we  view  the  subject  generally,  and  allow  full  importance 
£0  numerous  exceptions,  terrestrial  plants  and  animals  seem  intended  to  fill 
the  situations  they  occupy,  as  these  were  fitted  for  them  ;  they  appear  created 
as  the  conditions  arose,  the  latter  not  causing  a  modification  in  prevlousU* 
eristing  forms  productive  of  new  species." 


52  PRIMARY  STRATIFIED  ROCKS, 

we  find  a  series  of  primary  strata,  wholly  destitute  of  or- 
ganic remains ;  and  from  this  circumstance,  we  infer  their 
deposition  to  have  preceded  the  commencement  of  organic 
life.  Those  who  contend  that  hfe  may  have  existed  during 
the  formation  of  the  primary  strata,  and  the  animal  remains 
have  been  obliterated  by  the  effects  of  heat,  on  strata  nearest 
to  the  granite,  do  but  remove  to  one  point  farther  back- 
wards the  first  term  of  the  finite  series  of  organic  beings : 
and  there  still  remains  beyond  this  point  an  antecedent  period, 
in  which  a  state  of  total  fusion  pervaded  the  entire  materials 
of  the  fundamental  granite ;  and  one  universal  mass  of 
incandescent  elements,  wholly  incompatible  with  any  condi- 
tion of  life,  which  can  be  shown  to  have  ever  existed,  formed, 
the  entire  substance  of  the  globe.* 

*  III  adopting  the  hypothesis  that  the  primary  stratified  rocks  have  been 
altered  and  indurated  by  subjacent  iieat,  it  should  be  understood,  tliat  al- 
t!ioug-li  lieat  is  in  tills  case  referred  to  as  one  cause  of  the  consolidation  of 
strata,  there  are  other  causes  which  have  operated  largely  to  consolidate 
the  secondary  and  tertiary  strata,  which  are  placed  at  a  distance  above 
rocks  of  igneous  origin.  Although  many  kinds  of  limestone  may  have 
been  in  certain  cases  converted  to  crystalline  marble,  by  the  action  of  heat 
under  high  pressure,  there  is  no  need  for  appealing  to  such  agency  to 
explain  the  consolidation  of  ordinary  strata  of  carbonate  of  lime  ;  beds  of 
secondary  and  tertiary  sandstone  have  often  a  calcareous  cement,  which 
may  have  been  precipitated  from  water,  like  the  substance  of  stalactites 
and  ordinary  limestone.  Wiien  their  cement  is  siliceous,  it  may  also 
have  been  supplied  by  some  humid  process,  analogous  to  that  by  which 
the  siliceous  matter  of  chalcedony  and  of  quartz  is  eltiier  suspended  or 
dissolved  in  nature  ;  a  process,  tlie  existence  of  which  we  cannot  deny, 
althougli  it  has  yet  bafRed  all  the  art  of  chemistry  to  imitate  it.  The 
beds  of  clay  wiiich  alternate  with  limestone,  and  sand,  or  sandstone,  in 
secondaiy  and  tertiary  formations,  show  no  indications  of  the  action  of 
heat;  having  uridcrgonc  no  greater  consolidation  tlian  may  be  referred 
to  pressure,  or  to  tlie  admixture  of  certain  pi'oportions  of  carbonate  of 
lime,  where  the  clay  beds  pass  into  marl  and  niarlstone.  Beds  of  soft 
vuiconsolidated  clay,  or  of  loose  unconsolidated  sand,  are  very  rarely  if 
ever  found  amongst  any  of  the  primary  strata,  or  in  the  lower  regions  of 
the   transition   formation  ;    t!ie    effects  of  heat  appear  to  have  converted 


PRIMARY    STRATIFIED    ROCKS.  53 

It  may  be  said  we  have  no  right  to  deny  the  possible 
existence  of  life  and  organization  upon  the  surface,  or  in  the 
interior  of  our  planet,  under  a  state  of  igneous  fusion. 
"  Who,"  says  the  ingenious  and  speculative  Tucker,  (Light 
of  Nature,  book  iii.  chap.  10,)  "  can  reckon  up  all  the  varie- 
ties that  infinite  wisdom  can  contrive,  or  show  the  impossi- 
bility of  organizations  dissimilar  to  any  within  our  experi- 
ence? Who  knows  what  cavities  lie  within  the  earth,  or 
what  living  creatures  they  may  contain,  endued  with  senses 
unknown  to  us,  to  whom  the  streams  of  magnetism  may 
serve  instead  of  light,  and  those  of  electricity  affect  them  as 
sensibly  as  sounds  and  odours  affect  us  ?  Why  should  we 
pronounce  it  impossible  that  there  should  be  bodies  formed 
to  endure  the  burning  sun,  to  whom  fire  may  be  the  natural 
element,  whose  bones  and  muscles  are  composed  of  fixed 
earth,  their  blood  and  juices  of  molten  metals  ?  Or  others 
made  to  live  in  the  frozen  regions  of  Saturn,  having  their 
circulation  carried  on  by  fluids  more  subtle  than  the  highest 
rectified  spirits  raised  by  chemistry?" 

It  is  not  for  us  to  meet  questions  of  this  kind  by  dogma- 
tizing as  to  possible  existences,  or  to  presume  to  speculate- 
on  the  bounds  which  creative  Power  may  have  been  pleased 
to  impose  on  its  own  operations.  We  can  only  assert^  that 
as  the  laws  that  now  regulate  the  movements  and  properties 
of  all  the  material  elements,  can  be  shown  to  have  under- 
gone no  change  since  matter  was  first  created  upon  our 
planet ;  no  forms  of  organization  such  as  now  exist,  or  such 
as  Geology  shows  to  have  existed,  during  any  stages  of  the 
gradual  formation  of  the  earth,  could  hav^e  supported,  for  an 
instant,  the  state  of  fusion  here  supposed. 

We  therefore  conclude,  that  whatever  beings  of  wholly 

the  earlier  deposites  of  sand  into  compact  quartz  rock,  and  beds  of  clay  into 
c'ay  slate,  or  other  forms  of  primary  slate.  Tbe  reck  which  some  authors  have 
called  primary  grauwacke,  seems  to  be  a  mechanical  deposite  of  coarse 
sandstone,  in  which  the  form  of  the  fragments  has  not  been  so  entirely 
obliterated  by  heat,  as  in  tlie  case  of  compact  quartz  rock. 

5* 


54  FRIMAr.Y    STRATIFIED    EOCKS. 

different  natures  and  properties  may  be  imagined  to  be 
within  the  range  of  possible  existences,  not  one  of  all  the 
living  or  fossil  species  of  animals  or  vegetables,  could  ever 
have  endured  the  temperature  of  an  incandescent  planet. 
All  these  species  must  therefore  have  had  a  beginning, 
posterior  to  the  state  of  universal  fusion  which  Geology 
points  out. 

I  know  not  how  1  can  better  sum  up  the  conclusion  of 
this  argument  than  in  the  words  of  my  Inaugural  Lecture, 
(Oxford,  1819,  p.  20.) 

"  The  consideration  of  the  evidences  afforded  by  geologi- 
cal phenomena  may  enable  us  to  lay  more  securely  the 
very  foundations  of  natural  theology,  inasmuch  as  they 
clearly  point  out  to  us  a  period  antecedent  to  the  habitable 
state  of  the  earth,  and  consequently  antecedent  to  the  exist- 
ence of  its  inhabitants.  When  our  minds  become  thus 
familiarized  with  the  idea  of  a  beginning  and  first  creation 
of  the  beings  we  see  around  us,  the  proofs  of  design,  which 
the  structure  of  those  beings  affords,  carry  with  them  a 
more  forcible  conviction  of  an  intelligent  Creator,  and  the 
hypothesis  of  an  eternal  succession  of  causes,  is  thus  at 
once  removed.  We  argue  thus:  it  is  demonstrable  from 
Geology  that  there  was  a  period  w4icn  no  organic  beings 
had  existence ;  these  organic  beings  must  therefore  have 
had  a  beginning  subsequently  to  this  period  ;  and  where  is 
that  beginning  to  be  found  but  in  the  will  and  fiat  of  an  in- 
tellicfent  and  all-wise  Creator?' 

The  same  conclusion  is  stated  by  Cuvier,  to  be  the  result 
of  his  observations  on  geological  phenomena:  "  Mais  ce  qui 
etonne  davantage  encore,  et  ce  qui  n'est  pas  moins  certain, 
c'est  que  la  vie  n'a  pas  toujours  cxiste  sur  la  globe,  et  qu'il 
est  facile  a  I'observateur  de  reconnoitre  le  point  ou  elle  a 
commence  a  deposer  ses  produits." — Cuvier,  Ossemens 
Fossiles,  Disc.  Prelim.  1821,  vol.  i.  p.  ix. 


TRANSITION    SERIES.  55 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Strata  of  the  Transition  Series. 

Thus  far  we  have  been  occupied  with  rocks,  in  which  we 
trace  chiefly  the  resuhs  of  chemical  and  mechanical  forces ; 
but,  as  soon  as  we  enter  on  the  examination  of  strata  of  the 
Transition  Series,  the  history  of  organic  Kfe  becomes  asso- 
ciated with  that  of  mineral  phenomena.* 

The  mineral  character  of  the  transition  formations  pre- 
sents alternations  of  slate  and  shale,  with  slaty  sandstone, 
limestone,  and  conglomerate  rocks ;  the  latter  bearing  evi- 
dence of  the  action  of  water  in  violent  motion ;  the  former 
showing,  by  their  composition  and  structure,  and  by  the 
organic  remaiiis  which  they  frequently  contain,  that  they 
were  for  the  most  part  deposited  in  the  form  of  mud  and 
sand,  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea. 

Here,  therefore,  we  enter  on  a  new  and  no  less  curious 
than  important  field  of  inquiry,  and  commence  our  exami- 
nation of  the  relics  of  a  former  world,  with  a  view  to  ascer- 
tain how  far  the  fossil  members  of  the  animal  and  vegetable 
kingdoms  may,  or  may  not,  be  related  to  existing  genera 
and  species,  as  parts  of  one  great  system  of  creation,  all 
bearing  marks  of  derivation  from  a  common  author.f 

*  It  is  most  convenient  to  include  within  the  Transition  series,  all 
l.inds  of  stratified  rocks,  from  liie  earliest  slates,  in  which  \vc  find  the 
first  traces  of  animal  or  vegetable  remains,  to  the  termination  of  the  great 
coal  formation.  The  animal  remains  in  llic  more  ancient  portion  of  this 
scries,  viz.  the  Grauwacke  group,  though  nearly  allied  in  genera,  usually 
differ  in  species  from  those  in  its  more  recent  portion,  viz.  the  Carboniferous 
group. 

t  In  Plate  1,  I  have  attempted  to  convey  some  idea  of  the  organic  re- 


56  TRANSITION    SERIES. 

Beginning  with  the  animal  kingdom,  we  find  the  four 
great  existing  divisions  of  Vertehrata,  Mollusca,  Articulata, 
and  Radiata,  to  have  been  coeval  with  the  commencement 
of  organic  life  upon  our  globe.* 

No  higher  condition  of  Vertehrata  has  been  yet  discover- 
ed in  the  transition  formation  than  that  of  fishes,  whose  his- 
tory wdll  be  reserved  for  a  subsequent  chapter. 

The  Mollusca,f  in  the  transition  series,  afford  examples 
of  several  famihes,  and  many  genera  which  seem  at  that 
time  to  have  been  universally  diffused  over  all  parts  of  the 
world.  Some  of  these,  (e.  g.  the  Orthoceratite,  Spirifer, 
and  Producta)  became  extinct  at  an  early  period  in  the  his- 
tory of  stratification,  whilst  other  genera  (as  the  Nautilus 
and  Terebratula)  have  continued  through  all  formations  unto 
the  present  hour. 

The  earliest  examples  of  Articulated  animals  are  those 

mains  preserved  in  the  several  series  of  formations,  by  introducing;  over 
each,  restored  figures  of  a  few  of  the  most  characteristic  animals  and  vege- 
tables that  occupied  tiie  lands  and  waters,  at  the  periods  in  which  thej  were 
deposited. 

*  "  It  has  not  been  found  necessary,  in  discussing  the  history  of  fossil 
plants  and  animals,  to  constitute  a  single  new  class;  they  all  fill  naturally 
into  the  same  great  sections  as  the  existing  form?. — We  are  warranted  in 
concluding  that  tiie  older  organic  creations  were  formed  upon  the  same 
general  plan  as  at  present.  They  cannot,  therefore,  be  correctly  described 
as  entirely  different  systems  of  nature,  but  should  rather  be  viewed  as 
corresponding  systems,  composed  of  different  details.  The  difference  of 
these  details  arises  mostly  from  minute  specific  distinctions ;  but  somelimes, 
especially  among  terrestrial  plants,  certain  Crustacea,  and  reptiles,  the 
differences  arc  of  a  more  general  nature,  and  it  is  not  possible  to  refer  the 
fossil  tribes  to  any  known  recent  genus,  or  even  famil}'.  Tlius  we  find  the 
problem  of  the  resemblance  of  recent  and  fossil  organic  beings  to  resolve 
itself  into  a  general  analogy  of  system,  frequent  agreement  in  important 
points,  but  almost  universal  distinction  of  minute  organization." — Phillips's 
Guide  to  Geology,  p.  61-63,  1834. 

t  In  tills  great  division,  Cuvier  includes  a  vast  number  of  animals 
having  sott  bodies,  witliout  any  articulated  skeleton  or  8[)inal  marrow, 
such  as  the  Cuttle-fish,  and  the  inhabitants  of  univalve  and  bivalve 
shells. 


EGETABLE  KEMAINS.  57 

afforded  by  the  extinct  family  of  Trilobites,  (see  Plates  45 
and  46)  to  the  history  of  which  we  shall  devote  pecuUar 
consideration  under  the  head  of  Organic  Remains,  Al- 
though nearly  fifty  species  of  these  Trilobites  occur  in  strata 
of  the  transition  period,  they  appear  to  have  become  extinct 
before  the  commencement  of  the  secondary  series. 

The  Radiated  Animals  are  among  the  most  frequent  or- 
ganic remains  in  the  transition  strata ;  they  present  nume- 
rous forms  of  great  beauty,  from  which  I  shall  select  the 
family  of  Crinoidea,  or  hly-shaped  animals  allied  to  Star-fish, 
for  peculiar  consideration  in  a  future  chapter.  (See  PI.  47, 
Figs.  5,  6,  7.)  Fossil  corallines  also  abound  among  the 
radiata  of  this  period,  and  show  that  this  family  had  entered 
thus  early  upon  the  important  geological  functions  of  add- 
ing their  calcarious  habitations  to  the  solid  materials  of  the 
strata  of  the  globe.  Their  history  will  also  be  considered 
in  another  chapter. 

Remains  of  Vegetables  in  the  Transition  Series. 

Some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  vegetation  which  pre- 
vailed during  the  deposition  of  the  upper  strata  of"  the  tran- 
sition series,  from  the  figures  represented  in  our  first  plate 
(Fig.  1  to  13.)  In  the  interior  regions  of  this  series,  plants 
are  few  in  number,  and  principally  marine;*  but  in  its 
superior  regions,  the  remains  of  land  plants  are  accumu-' 
lated  in  prodigious  quantities,  and  preserved  in  a  state 
which  gives  them  a  high  and  two-fold  importance ;  first,  as 
illustrating  the  history  of  the  earliest  vegetation  that  appear- 
ed upon  our  planet,  and  the  state  of  cHmate  and  geological 
changes  which  then  prevailed  :f  secondly,  as  aflecting,  in 
no  small  degree,  the  actual  condition  of  the  human  race. 

*  I\I.  A.  Brongniart  mentions  l!ic  occurrence  of  four  species  of  fucoids  in 
the  transition  strata  of  Sweden  and  Quebec;  and  Dr.  Harlan  has  described 
another  species  found  in  the  Alleghany  Mountain?. 

■j-  The  nature  of  these  vegetables,  and  ib.cir  relations  to  existing  species, 
will  be  considered  in  a  future  chapter. 


58  TRANSITION  SERIES. 

The  strata  in  which  these  vegetable  remains  have  been 
collected  together  in  such  vast  abundance  have  been  justtv 
designated  by  the  name  of  the  carboniferous  order,  or  great 
coal  formation.  (See  Conybeare  and  Phillips's  Geology  of 
England  and  Wales,  book  iii.)  It  is  in  this  formation 
chiefly,  that  the  remains  of  plants  of  a  former  world  have 
been  preserved  and  converted  into  beds  of  mineral  coal; 
having  been  transported  to  the  bottom  of  former  seas  and 
estuaries,  or  lakes,  an^d  buried  in  beds  of  sand  and  mud, 
which  have  since  been  changed  into  sandstone  and  shale. 
(See  PI.  1,  sec.  14.*) 

*  The  most  cliaracteristic  type  that  exists  in  this  countr}'  of  the  general 
condition  and  circumstances  of  the  strata  composing  the  great  carbonife- 
rous order,  is  found  in  the  north  of  England.  It  appears  from  Mr.Fors- 
ter's  section  of  the  strata  from  Newcastle-upon-Tyne  to  Cross  Fell,  in 
Cumberland,  that  their  united  thickness  along  this  line  exceeds  4,000 
feet.  This  enormous  mass  is  composed  of  alternating  beds  of  shale  or 
indurated  clay,  sandstone,  limestone,  and  coal  :  the  coal  is  most  abundant 
in  the  upper  part  of  the  series,  near  Newcastle  and  Durham,  and  the 
limestone  predominates  towards  the  lower  part;  the  individual  strata 
enumerated  by  Forster,  are  thirty  two  beds  of  coal,  sixty-two  of  sand- 
stone,, seventeen  of  limestone,  one  intruding  bed  of  trap,  and  one  hundred 
and  twenty-eight  beds  of  shale  and  clay.  The  animal  remains  hitherto 
noticed  in  the  limestone  beds  are  almost  exclusively  marine  ;  hence  we 
infer  that  these  strata  were  deposited  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  The 
fresh-water  shells  that  occur  occasionally  in  the  upper  regions  of  this 
great  series  show  that  these  more  recent  portions  of  the  coal  formation 
were  deposited  in  water  that  was  either  brackish  or  entirely  fresh.  It 
has  lately  been  shown  that  fresh  water  deposites  occur  also  occasionally  in 
the  lower  regions  of  the  carboniferous  series.  (See  Dr.  Hibbert's  ac- 
count of  the  limestone  of  Burdie  House,  near  Edinburg;  Transactions  of 
the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburg,  vol.  xiii. ;  and  Professor  Phillips's  Notice 
of  fresh-water  shells  of  the  genus  Unio,  in  tlie  lower  part  of  the  coal 
series  of  Yorksiiire;  London  Phil.  Mag.  Nov.  1(S32,  349.)  The  causes 
which  collected  these  vegetables  in  beds  thus  piled  above  each  other,  and 
separated  by  strata  of  vast  thickness,  composed  of  drifted  sand  and  cla}', 
receive  illustration  from  the  manner  in  which  drifted  timber  from  the 
existing  forests  of  America  is  now  accumulated  in  the  estuaries  of  the 
great  rivers  of  that  continent,  particularly  in  the  estuary  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  on  the  River  Mackenzie.     See  Lyell's  Principles  of  Geology,  3d  edit 


VEGETABLE  REMAINS.  59 

Besides  this  coal,  many  strata  of  the  carboniferous  order 
contain  subordinate  beds  of  a  rich  argillacious  iron  ore, 
which  the  near  position  of  the  coal  renders  easy  of  reduc- 
tion to  a  metallic  state ;  and  this  reduction  is  farther  facili- 
tated by  the  proximity  of  limestone,  which  is  requisite  as  a 
tiux  to  separate  the  metal  from  the  ore,  and  usually  abounds 
in  the  lower  regions  of  the  carboniferous  strata. 

A  formation  that  is  at  once  the  vehicle  of  two  such  valu- 
able mineral  productions  as  coal  and  iron,  assumes  a  place 
of  the  first  importance  among  the  sources  of  benefit  to  man- 
kind ;  and  this  benefit  is  the  direct  result  of  physical  changes 
which  affected  the  earth  at  those  remote  periods  of  time, 
when  the  first  forms  of  vegetable  life  appeared  upon  its  sur- 
face. 

The  important  uses  of  coal  and  iron  in  administering  to 
the  supply  of  our  daily  wants,  give  to  every  individual 
amongst  us,  in  almost  every  moment  of  our  lives,  a  personal 
concern,  of  which  but  few  are  conscious,  in  the  geological 
events  of  these  very  distant  eras.  We  are  all  brought  into 
immediate  connexion  with  the  vegetation  that  clothed  the 
ancient  earth  before  one-half  of  its  actual  surface  had  yet 
been  formed.  The  trees  of  the  primeval  forests  have  not, 
like  modern  trees,  undergone  decay,  yielding  back  their  ele- 
ments to  the  soil  and  atmosphere  by  which  they  had  been  nou- 
rished; but  treasured  up  in  subterranean  store-houses,  have 
been  transformed  into  enduring  beds  of  coal,  which  in  these 
latter  ages  have  become  to  man  the  sources  of  heat,  and 
light,  and  wealth.  My  fire  now  burns  with  fuel,  and  my 
lamp  is  shining  with  the  light  of  gas,  derived  from  coal  that 
has  been  buried  for  countless  ages  in  the  deep  and  dark  re- 
cesses of  the  earth.  We  prepare  our  food,  and  maintain 
our  forges  and  furnaces,  and  the  power  of  our  steam-en- 
gines, with  the  remains  of  plants  of  ancient  forms  and  ex- 


V'ol.  iii.  Book  iii.  Ch.  xv.  and  Prof.  Phillips's  Article  Geoloj^y  in  Enclyclo- 
pxdia  Metropolitana,  Pt.  37,  pag^e  596. 


GO  SECONDARY  SEPaES. 

tinct  species,  which  were  swept  from  the  earth  ere  the  for- 
mation of  the  transition  strata  was  completed.  Our  instru- 
ments of  cutlery,  the  tools  of  our  mechanics,  and  the  count- 
less machines  which  we  construct,  by  the  infinitely  varied 
applications  of  iron,  are  derived  from  ore,  for  the  most  part 
coeval  with,  or  more  ancient  than  the  fuel,  by  the  aid  of 
which  we  reduce  it  to  its  metallic  state,  and  apply  it  to  in- 
numerable uses  in  the  economy  of  human  life.  Thus  from 
the  wreck  of  forests  that  waved  upon  the  surface  of  the  pri- 
meval lands,  and  from  ferruginous  mud  that  was  lodged  at 
the  bottom  of  the  primeval  waters,  we  derive  our  chief  sup- 
plies of  coal  and  iron ;  those  two  fundamental  elements  of 
art  and  industry,  which  contribute  more  than  any  other 
mineral  production  of  the  earth,  to  increase  the  riches  and 
multiply  the  comforts,  and  ameliorate  the  condition  of  man- 
kind. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Strata  of  the  Secondary  Series. 

We  may  consider  the  history  of  secondary,  and  also  of 
tertiary  strata,  in  two  points  of  view:  the  one,  respecting 
their  actual  state  as  dry  land,  destined  to  be  the  habitation 
<oi  man;  the  other,  regarding  their  prior  condition,  whilst 
in  progress  of  formation  at  the  bottom  of  the  waters,  and 
occupied  by  crowds  of  organic  beings  in  the  enjoyment  of 
life.* 

'^''  The  secondary  s'ratra  are  composed  of  extensive  beds  of  sand  and 
Handstone,  mixed  occasionally  with  pebbles,  and  alternating  with  deposites 
of  clay,  and  marl,  and  limestone.  The  materials  of  most  of  these  strata  ap- 
pear to  have  been  derived  from  the  detritus  of  primary  and  transition  rocks; 
and  the  larger   fragments,  which  are  preserved  in  the  form   of  pebbles, 


ADAPTATION  TO  AGRICULTURE-  61 

With  regard  to  their  adaptation  to  human  uses,  it  may  be 
stated  generally,  that  the  greater  number  of  the  most  popu- 
lous and  highly  civilized  assemblages  of  mankind  inhabit 
those  portions  of  the  earth  which  are  composed  of  secondary 
and  tertiary  formations.  Viewed,  therefore,  in  their  rela- 
tions to  that  agricultural  stage  of  human  society  in  which 
man  becomes  established  in  a  settled  habitation,  and  applies 
his  industry  to  till  the  earth,  we  find  in  these  formations 
which  have  been  accumulated,  in  apparently  accidental 
succession,  an  arrangement  highly  advantageous  to  the  cul- 
tivation of  their  surface.  The  movements  of  the  waters,  by 
which  the  materials  of  strata  have  been  transported  to  their 
present  place,  have  caused  them  to  be  intermixed  in  such 
manner,  and  in  such  proportions,  as  are  in  various  degrees 
favourable  to  the  growth  of  the  different  vegetable  produc- 
tions, which  man  requires  for  himself  and  the  domestic  ani- 
mals he  has  collected  around  him. 

The  process  is  obvious  whereby  even  sohd  rocks  are  con- 
verted into  soil  fit  for  the  maintenance  of  vegetation,  by 
simple  exposure  to  atmospheric  agency ;  the  disintegration 
produced  by  the  vicissitudes  of  heat  and  cold,  moisture  and 
dryness,  reduces  the  surface  of  almost  all  strata  to  a  com- 
minuted state  of  soil,  or  mould,  the  fertility  of  which  is 
usually  in  proportion  to  the  compound  nature  of  its  ingre- 
dients. 

The  three  principal  materials  of  all  strata  are  the  earths 
of  flint,  clay,  and  lime ;  each  of  these,  taken  singly  and  in  a 
state  of  purity,  is  comparatively  barren ;  the  admixture  of  a 
small  proportion  of  clay  gives  tenacity  and  fertility  to  sand, 

often  indicate  the  sources  from  which  these  rounded  fragments  were  sup- 
plied. 

The  transport  of  these  mateiials  from  the  site  of  older  formations  to 
llieir  place  in  the  secondary  series,  and  their  disposition  in  strata  widely 
extended  over  the  bottom  of  the  early  seas,  seem  to  have  resulted  from 
threes  producing  the  destruction  of  more  ancient  lands,  on  a  scale  of  mag-^ 
nitude  unexampled  among  the  actual  phenomena  of  moving  waters. 

VOL.  I. — 6 


62  SECONDARY  SERIES. 

and  the  farther  addition  of  calarious  earth  produces  a  soil 
highly  valuable  to  the  agriculturist :  and  where  the  natural 
proportions  are  not  adjusted  in  the  most  beneficial  manner, 
the  facilities  afforded  by  the  frequent  juxta-position  of  lime, 
or  marl,  or  gypsum,  for  the  artificial  improvement  of  those 
soils  which  are  defective  in  these  ingredients,  add  materially 
to  the  earth's  capability  of  adaptation  to  the  important  of- 
fice of  producing  food.  Hence  it  happens  that  the  great 
corn-fields,  and  the  greatest  population  of  the  world,  are  , 
placed  on  strata  of  the  secondary  and  tertiary  formations ; 
or  on  their  detritus,  composing  still  more  compound,  and 
consequently  more  fertile  diluvial,  and  alluvial  deposites.* 

Another  advantage  in  the  disposition  of  stratified  rocks 
consists  in  the  fact  that  strata  of  limestone,  sand,  and  sand- 
stone which  readily  absorb  water,  alternate  with  beds  of 
clay,  or  marl,  which  are  impermeable  to  this  most  impor- 
tant fluid.  All  permeable  strata  receive  rain-water  at  their 
surface,  whence  it  descends  until  it  is  arrested  by  an  imper- 
meable subjacent  bed  of  clay,  causing  it  to  accumulate 
throughout  the  lower  region  of  each  porous  stratum,  and  to 
form  extensive  reservoirs,  the  overflowings  of  which  on  the 
sides  of  valleys  constitute  the  ordinary  supply  of  springs  and 
rivers.  These  reservoirs  are  not  only  occasional  crevices 
and  caverns,  but  the  entire  space  of  all  the  small  interstices 
of  those  lower  parts  of  each  permeable  stratum,  which  are 
beneath  the  level  of  the  nearest  flowing  springs.  Hence  if 
a  well  be  sunk  to  the  water-bearing  level  of  any  stratum, 

*  It  is  no  small  proof  of  design  in  the  arrangement  of  the  materials  that 
compose  tlie  surface  of  our  earth,  tliat  whereas  the  primitive  and  granitic 
rocks  are  least  calculated  to  afford  a  fertile  soil,  they  are  for  the  most  part 
made  to  constitute  the  mountain  districts  of  the  world,  which,  from  their 
elevation  and  irregularities,  would  otherwise  be  but  ill  adapted  for  human 
iiabitation;  while  the  lower  and  more  temperate  regions  are  usually  com- 
posed of  derivative,  or  secondary  strata,  in  which  the  compound  nature  of 
their  ingredients  qualifies  them  to  be  of  the  greatest  utility  to  mankind,  by 
their  subserviency  to  the  purposes  of  luxuriant  vegetation. — Buckland's  In- 
augural Lecture,  Oxford,  1820,  p.  17. 


SPRINGS.       SALT.  63 

it  forms  a  communication  with  a  permanent  subterranean 
sheet  of  water,  affording  plentiful  supplies  to  the  inhabitants 
of  upland  districts,  which  are  above  the  level  of  natural 
springs. 

A  farther  benefit  which  man  derives  from  the  disposition 
of  the  mineral  ingredients  of  the  secondary  strata,  results 
from  the  extensive  diffusion  of  muriate  of  soda,  or  common 
salt,  throughout  certain  portions  of  these  strata,  especially 
those  of  the  new  red  sandstone  formation.  Had  not  the 
beneficient  providence  of  the  Creator  laid  up  these  stores  of 
salt  within  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  the  distance  of  inland 
countries  from  the  sea  would  have  rendered  this  article  of 
prime  and  daily  necessity,  unattainable  to  a  large  proportion 
of  mankind :  but,  under  the  existing  dispensation,  the  pre- 
sence of  mineral  salt,  in  strata  which  are  dispersed  general- 
ly over  the  interior  of  our  continents  and  larger  islands,  is  a 
source  of  health,  and  daily  enjoyment,  to  the  inhabitants  of 
almost  every  region  of  the  earth.*  Muriate  of  soda  is  also 
among  the  most  abundant  of  the  saline  compounds  formed 
by  subUmation  in  the  craters  of  volcanos. 

With  respect  to  the  state  of  animal  life,  during  the  depo- 
sition of  the  Secondary  strata,  although  the  petrified  re- 
mains of  Zoophytes,  Crustacea,  Testacea,  and  Fishes,  show 
that  the  seas  in  which  these  strata  were  formed,  like  those 
which  gave  birth  to  the  Transition  series,  abounded  with 
creatures  referable  to  the  four  existing  divisions  of  the  ani- 
mal kingdom,  still  the  condition  of  the  globe  seems  not  yet 
to  have  been  sufficiently  advanced  in  tranquiUity,  to  admit 

*  Although  the  most  frequent  position  of  rock  salt,  and  of  salt  springs, 
is  in  strata  of  the  new  red  sandstone  formation,  which  has  consequentlv 
been  designated  by  some  geologists  as  the  saliferous  system,  yet  it  is  not 
exclusively  confined  to  them,  Tlie  salt  mines  of  Wieliezka  and  Sicily  are 
in  tertiary  formations ;  those  of  Cardona  in  cretaceous ;  some  of  those  in 
the  Tyrol  in  the  oolites ;  and  near  Durham  there  are  salt  springs  in  the 
coal  formation. 


64  SECONDARY  SERIES. 

of  general  occupation  by  warm-blooded  terrestrial  Mam- 
malia. 

The  only  terrestrial  Mammalia  yet  discovered  in  any  se- 
condary stratum,  are  the  small  marsupial  quadrupeds  allied 
to  the  Opossum,  which  occur  in  the  oolite  formation,  at 
Stonesfield,  near  Oxford.  The  jaws  of  two  species  of  this 
genus  are  represented  in  Plate  2.  a.  b;  the  double  roots  of 
the  molar  teeth  at  once  refer  these  jaws  to  the  class  of  Mam- 
malia, and  the  form  of  their  crowns  places  them  in  the  or- 
<icr  of  Marsupial  animals.  Two  other  small  species  have 
been  discovered  by  Cuvier,  in  the  tertiary  formations  of  the 
basin  of  Paris,  in  the  gypsum  of  Mont  Martre. 

The  Marsupial  Order  comprehends  a  large  number  of 
existing  genera,  both  herbivorous  and  carnivorous,  which 
are  now  peculiar  to  North  and  South  America,  and  to  New 
Holland,  with  the  adjacent  islands.  The  kangaroo  and 
opossum  are  its  most  familiar  examples.  The  name  of 
Marsupialia  is  derived  from  the  presence  of  a  large  external 
marsupium,  or  pouch,  fixed  on  the  abdomen,  in  which  the 
foetus  is  placed  after  a  very  short  period  of  uterine  gestation, 
and  remains  suspended  to  the  nipple  by  its  mouth,  until 
sufficiently  matured  to  come  forth  to  the  external  air.  The 
discovery  of  animals  of  this  kind,  both  in  the  secondary 
and  tertiary  formations,  shows  that  the  Marsupial  Order,  so 
far  from  being  of  more  recent  introduction  than  other  orders 
of  mammalia,  is  in  reality  the  first  and  most  ancient  condi- 
tion under  which  animals  of  this  class  appeared  upon  our 
planet:  as  far  as  we  know,  it  was  their  only  form  during  the 
secondary  period ;  it  was  co-existent  with  many  other  or- 
ders in  the  early  parts  of  the  tertiary  period;  and  its  geogra- 
phical distribution  in  the  present  creation,  is  limited  to  the 
regions  we  have  above  enumerated.* 

*  In  a  highly  important  physiological  paper,  in  the  Phil.  Trans.  Lon- 
don, 1834,  part  ii.  p.  349,  Mr.  Owen  has  pointed  out  "  the  most  irrefra- 
jrible  evidence  of  creative  foresight,  afforded  by  the  existing  Marsupialia, 
in  the  peculiar  modifications  both  of  the  maternal  and  foetal  system,  de- 


ANIMAL  REMAINS.  65> 

The  peculiar  feature  in  the  population  of  the  whole  series 
of  secondary  strata,  was  the  prevalence  of  numerous  and 
gigantic  forms  of  Saurian  reptiles.     Many  of  these  were 

sig^ned  with  especial  reference  to  each  other's  peculiar  condition."  With 
respect  to  the  final  cause  of  thes2  peculiarities,  he  conjectures  that  they 
have  relation  to  an  inferior  condition  of  the  brain  and  nervous  system  in  the 
Marsupiaiia;  and  considers  the  more  protracted  period  of  viviporous  utero 
gestation  in  the  higher  orders  of  Mammalia  to  be  connected  with  their  fuller 
development  of  tlie  parts  subservient  to  the  sensorial  functions;  the  more 
simple  form  and  inferior  condition  of  the  brain  in  Marsupiaiia,  being  attended 
with  a  lower  degree  of  intelligence,  and  less  perfect  condition  of  the  organs 
of  voice. 

As  this  inferior  condition  of  living  Afarsupialia  shows  this  order  to  hold  an 
intermediate  place  between  viviparous  and  oviparous  animals,  forming,  as  it 
were,  a  link,  between  Mammalia  and  Reptiles;  the  analogies  afforded  by  the 
the  occurrence  of  the  more  simple  forms  of  other  classes  of  animals  in  the 
earlier  geological  deposites,  would  lead  ue  to  expect  also  that  tlie  first  forms 
of  Mammalia  would  have  been  Marsupial. 

In  a  recent  letter  to  myself,  Mr.  Owen  adds  the  following  interesting  par- 
ticulars respecting  the  pliysiology  of  this  remarkable  class  of  animals.  "  Of 
the  generality  of  the  law,  as  regards  the  simple  unconvoluted  form  of  the  cere- 
brum in  the  Marsupials,  I  have  had  additional  confirmation  from  recent  dis- 
sections of  a  Dasyuriis  and  Phalangisla.  With  an  organization  defective  in 
that  part  which  I  believe  to  be  essential  to  the  docility  of  the  horse,  and 
sagacity  of  tlie  dog,  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  the  Marsupial  series  of 
warm-blooded  quadrupeds  would  be  insufficient  for  the  great  purposes  of 
the  Creator,  when  the  earth  was  rendered  fit  for  the  habitation  of  man.  They 
do,  indeed,  afford  the  v/andering  savages  of  Australia  a  partial  supply  of 
food;  but  it  is  more  than  doubtfid  that  any  of  the  species  will  be  preserved 
by  civilized  man  on  the  score  of  utility.  The  more  valuable  and  tractable 
ruminants  are  already  fast  encroaching  on  the  plains  where  the  kangaroo 
was  once  the  sole  representative  of  the  gramnivorous  Mammalia. 

"  It  is  interesting,  however  to  observe,  that  the  Marsupials,  including  the 
Monotremes,  form  a  verj'  complete  series,  adapted  to  the  assimilation  of 
every  form  of  organic  matter ;  and  no  doubt,  with  enough  of  instinctive 
precaution,  to  preserve  tliemselves  from  extermination,  when  surrounded 
with  enemies  of  no  iiigher  intellectual  powers  than  the  Reptilia.  It  woidd, 
indeed,  be  a  strong  support  to  the  consideration  of  them  as  a  distinct  ovovi- 
viparous  sub-class  of  Mammals,  if  they  should  be  found  as  hitherto,  to  be 
the  sole  representatives  of  the  highest  class  of  vertebrata,  in  the  secondarj.', 
strata." — R.  Owsn. 

6* 


66  SECONDARY  SERIES. 

exclusively  marine;  others  amphibious:  others  were  terres- 
trial, raging  in  savannahs  and  jungles,  clothed  with  a  tropi- 
cal vegetation,  or  basking  on  the  margins  of  estuaries,  lakes, 
and  rivers.  Even  the  air  was  tenanted  by  flying  lizards, 
under  the  dragon  form  of  Pterodactyles.  The  earth  was  pro- 
bably at  that  time  too  much  covered  with  water,  and  those 
portions  of  land  which  had  emerged  above  the  surface,  were 
too  frequently  agitated  by  earthquakes,  inundations,  and  at- 
mospheric irregularities,  to  be  extensively  occupied  by  any 
higher  order  of  quadrupeds  than  reptiles. 

As  the  history  of  these  reptiles,  and  also  that  of  the  ve- 
getable remains,*  of  the  secondary  formations,  will  be  made 
a  subject  of  distinct  inquiry,  it  will  here  suffice  to  state,  that 
the  proofs  of  method  and  design  in  the  adaptation  of  these 
extinct  forms  of  organization  to  the  varied  circumstances 
and  conditions  of  the  earth's  progressive  stages  of  advance- 
ment, are  similar  to  those  we  trace  in  the  structure  of  living 
animal  and  vegetable  bodies ;  in  each  case  we  argue  that  the 
existence  of  contrivances,  adapted  to  produce  definite  and 
useful  ends,  implies  the  anterior  existence  and  agency  of 
creative  intelligence. 

•  The  vegetable  remains  of  the  secondary  strata  differ  from  those  of  the 
transition  period,  and  are  very  rarely  accumulated  into  beds  of  valuable 
coal.  The  imperfect  coal  of  the  Cleveland  Moorlands  near  Whitby,  on  the 
coast  of  Yorkshire,  and  that  of  Brora  in  the  county  of  Sutherland,  occurs  in 
the  lower  region  of  the  oolite  formation;  that  of  Biickeberg  in  Nassau,  is  ia 
the  Wealdean  formation,  and  is  of  superior  quality. 


FOURFOLD  DIVISION.  O/ 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Strata  of  the  Tertiary  Series, 

The  Tertiary  Series  introduces  a  system  of  new  pheno- 
mona,  presenting  formations  in  which  the  remains  of  animal 
and  vegetable  life  approach  gradually  nearer  to  species  of 
our  own  epoch.  The  most  striking  feature  of  these  forma- 
tions consists  in  the  repeated  alternations  of  marine  deposites, 
with  those  of  fresh  water  (see  PI.  1,  sect.  25,  26,  27,  28.) 

We  are  indebted  to  Cuvier  and  Brongniart,  for  the  first 
detailed  account  of  the  nature  and  relations  of  a  very  im- 
portant portion  of  the  tertiary  strata,  in  their  inestimable 
history  of  the  deposites  above  the  chalk  near  Paris.  For  a 
short  time,  these  were  supposed  to  be  peculiar  to  that  neigh- 
bourhood; farther  observation  has  discovered  them  to  be 
parts  of  a  great  series  of  general  formations,  extending 
largely  over  the  whole  world,  and  affording  evidences  of, 
at  least,  four  distinct  periods,  in  their  order  of  succession, 
indicated  by  changes  in  the  nature  of  the  organic  remains 
that  are  imbedded  in  them.* 

Throughout  all  these  periods,  there  seems  to  have  been 
a  continually  increasing  provision  for  the  diffusion  of  animal 
life,  and  we   have  certain  evidence  of  the  character  and 

•  In  Vol.  II.  of  his  Principles  of  Geology,  Mr.  Lyell  has  given  an  in- 
teresting map,  showing  the  extent  of  the  surface  of  Europe,  which  has 
been  covered  by  water  since  the  commencement  of  the  deposition  of  the  ter- 
tiary strata. 

M.  Boue,  also,  has  published  an  instructive  map,  representing  the  man- 
ner  in  which  central  Europe  was  once  divided  into  a  series  of  beparate  ba- 
sins, each  maintaining,  for  a  long  time,  the  condition  of  a  fresh-water  lake; 
those  which  were  subject  to  occasional  irruptions  of  the  sea,  would,  for  a 
while,  admit  of  the  deposition  of  marine  remains;  the  subsequent  exclusion 
of  the  sea,  and  return  to  the  condition  of  a  fresh-water  lake,  would  allow 
the  same  region  to  become  the  receptacle  of  tlie  exuvjB  of  animals  inhabitimr 
fresh-water.--Synoptische  Darstellung  dcr  Erdrinde.     Hanau,.  1827.    The 


68  TERTIARY  SERIES. 

numbers  of  the  creatures  that  wore  permitted  to  enjoy  it, 
in  the  multitiKle  of  sliclls  and  bonf;s  })reserved  in  the  strata 
that  were  dc[)osil(;(l  durintf  each  of  the  four  (;j)ochs  we  are 
considering. 

M.  Deshayes  and  Mr.  Lyoll  have  recently  proposed  a 
lourfold  division  of  the  marine  formations  of  the  tertiary 
scries,  founded  on  the  proportions  which  their  fossil  shells 
hear  to  marine  shells  of  existing  species.  To  these  divisions 
Mr.  f^yell  has  af)plicd  the  terms  Eocene,  Miocene,  Older 
PU.oc.rn.e  and  JM'ruier  Pliocene;  and  has  most  ahly  illustrated 
their  history  in  the  third  volume  of  his  Principles  of  Geo- 
logy- 

The  term  Fif)C(!ne  imjjlies  the  commencement  or  danm  of 

the  existing  state  of  the  animal  creation;  the  strata  of  this 
series  containing  a  very  small  proportion  of  shells  referable 
to  living  species.  The  Calcaire  Grossier  of  Paris,  and  the 
London  clay,  arc;  familiar  examples  of  this  older  tertiary,  or 
l']o<-<;ri(!  formation. 

The  l(!rm  Miocene  implies  that  a  minority,  of  fossil  shells,, 
in  formations  of  this  period,  are  of  recent  s[)ecies.  To  this 
era  are  referred  the  iossil  shells  of  Bordeaux,  Turin,  and 
Vienna. 

fn  formations  of  the  Older,  and  Newer  Pliocene,  taken 
together,  the  majority  of  the  shells  belongs  to  living  species  ; 
the  recent  species  in  the  newer,  being  much  more  abundant 
than  in  lh(!  older  <Mvision. 

To  the  Older  Plio(;(;ne,  l;elong  the  Sub-apennine  marine 
formations,  and  the  lOnglisli  Crag  ;  and  to  the  Newer  Plio- 
cene, IIh;  more  recent  marine  d(;posites  of  Sicily,  Ischia,  and 
Tuscany.* 

Haino  map  on  a  Inrpor  unnlr,  appcarfl  in  the  Hcoond  ficricH  of  the  Trnnsac- 
tions  oflho  Jjinncun  Society  of  Norrnaiidy. 

In  the  Anjmls  of  PhiloHopIiy,  182.'},  the  Rev.  W.  V).  Coiiyhcaro  publiHiicd 
an  adrniralilo  memoir,  illuHtrativc  of  a  Himilar  geolojrical  map  of  fliirope. 

*  The  total  number  of  known  fossil  shells  in  the  tertiary  series  In  .'1,0.10. 
OftheHe  1,'.3;)8  are  found  in  the  Eocene;  l,0i21  in  the  Miocene;  and  777  in 
the  Older  and  Wcwer  I'liocenc  divisionH. 


FOURFOLD  DIVISION.  69 

Alternating  with  these  four  great  marine  formations  above 
the  chalk,  there  intervenes  a  fourfold  series  of  other  strata, 
containing  shells  which  show  them  to  have  been  formed  in 
fresh  water,  accompanied  by  the  bones  of  many  terrestrial 
and  aquatic  quadrupeds. 

The  greater  number  of  shells,  both  in  the  fresh-water  and 
marine  formations  of  the  tertiary  series,  are  so  nearly  aUied 
to  existing  genera,  that  we  may  conclude,  the  animals  by 
which  they  were  formed,  to  have  discharged  similar  func- 
tions in  the  economy  of  nature,  and  to  have  been  endowed 
with  the  same  capacities  of  enjoyment  as  the  cognate  mul- 
lusks  of  Uving  species.  As  the  examination  of  these  shells 
would  disclose  nearly  the  same  arrangements  and  adapta- 
tions that  prevail  in  living  species,  it  will  be  more  important 
to  investigate  the  extinct  genera  of  the  higher  orders  of  ani- 
mals, which  seem  to  have  been  constructed  with  a  view  to 
the  temporary  occupation  of  the  earth,  wliilst  the  tertiary 
strata  were  in  process  of  formation.  Our  globe  was  no 
longer  tenanted  by  those  gigantic  reptiles,  which  had  been 
its  occupants  during  the  secondary  period  ;  neither  was  it 
yet  fit  to  receive  the  numerous  tribes  of  terrestrial  mammalia 
that  are  its  actual  inhabitants.  A  large  proportion  of  the 
lands  which  had  been  raised  above  the  sea,  being  covered 
with  fresh  water,  was  best  adapted  for  the  abode  of  fluviatile 
and  lacustrine  quadrupeds. 

Our  knowledge  of  these  quadrupeds  is  derived  solely  from 
their  fossil  remains  ;  and  as  these  are  found  chiefly  (but  not 
exclusively*)  in  the  fresh-water  formations  of  the  tertiary 

The  numerical  proportions  of  recent  to  extinct  species  may  be  thus 
expressed. — In  the 

Newer  Pliocene  period     .     .     90  to  95  'v 

Older  Pliocene  period       .     .     35  to  50  /  Per  cent,  are  of 

Miocene  period 18  ^  recent  species. 

Eocene  period 3^  j 

— Lyell's  Geology,  4  Ed.  vol.  iii.  p.  308. 

*  The  remains  of  Palaeotherium  occur,  though  very  rarely,  in  the  Cal- 
caire  Grossier  of  Paris.    The  bones  of  other  terrestrial  mammalia,  occ  ur 


70  TERTIARY  SERIES. 

series,  it  is  to  them  principally  that  our  present  attention 
will  be  directed. 

Mammalia  of  the  Eocene  Period. 

In  the  first  great  fresh-water  formation  of  the  Eocene  pe- 
riod, nearly  fifty  extinct  species  of  mammalia  have  been  dis- 
covered by  Cuvier ;  the  greater  number  of  these  belong  to 
the  following  extinct  genera,  in  the  order  Pachydermata,* 
viz.,  Palaeotherium,  Anoplotherium  Lophiodon,  Anthraco- 
therium,  Cheropotamus,  Adapis  (see  Plates  3  and  4.-|-) 

occasionally  in  the  Miocene  and  Pliocene  marine  formations,  e.  g.  m 
Touraine  and  in  the  Sub-apcnnines.  These  are  derived  from  carcasses 
which,  during  these  respective  periods,  were  drifted  into  estuaries  and 
seas. 

No  remains  of  mammalia  have  yet  been  found  in  the  Plastic  clay  for. 
mation  next  above  the  chalk ;  the  admixture  of  fresh-water  and  marine 
shells  in  this  formation  seems  to  indicate  that  it  was  deposited  in  an  es- 
tuary. Beds  of  fresh-water  shells  are  interposed  more  than  once  between 
the  marine  strata  of  the  Calcaire  Grossier,  which  are  placed  next  above  the 
plastic  clay. 

*  Cuvier's  order  Pachydermata,  i.  e.  animals  having  thick  skins,  includes 
three  subdivisions  of  Herbivora,  of  which  the  Elephant,  Rhinoceros,  and 
Horse  are  respectively  examples. 

t  Palasotherium. 

The  place  of  the  genus  Palaeotherium  (see  Plates  3  and  4)  is  interme- 
diate between  the  rhinoceros,  the  horse,  and  tapir.  Eleven  or  twelve 
species  have  already  been  discovered ;  some  as  large  as  a  rhinoceros, 
others  varying  from  the  size  of  a  horse  to  that  of  a  hog.  The  bones  of 
the  nose  show  that,  like  the  tapir,  they  had  a  short  fleshy  trunk.  These 
animals  probably  lived  and  died  upon  the  margins  of  the  then  existing 
lakes  and  rivers,  and  their  dead  carcasses  may  have  been  drifted  to  the 
bottom  in  seasons  of  flood.  Some  perhaps  retired  into  the  water  to 
die. 

Anoplotherium. 

Five  species  of  Anoplotherium  (see  Plates  3,  4)  have  been  found  in  the 
gypsum  of  the  neighbourhood  of  Paris.  The  largest  (A.  Commune)  being 
of  the  size  of  a  dwarf  ass,  with  a  thick  tail,  equal  in  length  to  its  body, 
and  resembling  that  of  an  otter;  its  probable  use  was  to  assist  the  animal  in 
swimming.  Another  (A.  Medium)  was  of  a  size  and  form  more  nearly 
approaching  tlie  light  and  graceful  character  of  the  Gazelle  ;  a  third  species 
was  nearly  ot  the  size  of  a  Hare. 


MAMMALIA  OP  EOCENE  PERIOD.  71 

The  nearest  approach  among  living  animals  to  the  form 
of  these  extinct  aquatic  quadrupeds,  is  found  in  the  Tapirs 
that  inhabit  the  warm  regions  of  South  America,  Malacca, 
and  Sumatara,  and  in  the  Daman  of  Africa. 

It  is  not  easy  to  find  a  more  eloquent  and  striking  acknow- 
ledgment of  the  regularity  and  constancy  of  the  systematic 
contrivances  that  pervade  the  animal  remains  of  the  fossil 
world,  than  is  contained  in  Cuviei-'s  Introduction  to  his  ac- 
count of  the  bones  discovered  in  the  gypsum  quarries  of  the 
neighbourhood  of  Paris.  It  affords  to  persons  unacquainted 
with  the  modern  method  of  conducting  physical  researches, 
an  example  of  the  kind  of  evidence  on  which  we  found  our 
conclusions,  as  to  the  form,  character,  and  habits  of  extinct 
creatures  that  are  known  only  through  the  medium  of  their 

The  posterior  molar  teeth  in  the  genus  Anopiothcrium  resemble  those  of 
the  rhinoceros;  their  feet  are  terminated  by  two  large  toes,  like  the  rumi- 
nating animals,  whilst  the  composition  of  their  tarsus  is  like  that  of  the 
camel.  The  place  of  this  genus  stands,  in  one  respect,  between  the  rhino- 
ceros and  the  horse ;  and  in  another,  between  the  hippopotamus,  the  liog,  and 
the  camel. 

Lophiodon. 

The  Lophiodon  is  another  lost  genus,  allied  most  nearly  to  the  tapir  and 
rhinoceros,  and,  in  some  respects,  to  the  hippopotamus,  and  connected  closely 
with  the  Palseotherium  and  Anopiothcrium.  Fifteen  species  of  Lophiodon 
have  been  ascertained. 

Anthracotherium. 

The  genius  Anthracotherium  was  so  called  from  its  having  been  first  dis- 
covered in  the  Tertiary  coal,  or  Lignite  of  Cadibona  in  Liguria  :  it  presents 
seven  species,  some  of  them  approximating  to  the  size  and  character  of  the 
hog;  others  approaching  nearly  to  that  of  the  hippopotamus. 

Cheropotamus. 
The  Cheropotamus   was  an  animal  most  nearly  allied  to  tlic  hoo-s;  in 
some  respects  approaching  the  Babiroussa,  and  forming-  a  link  between  the 
Anopiothcrium  and  the  Peccary. 

Adapis, 
The  last  of  the  extinct  Pachydermata  found  in  the  gypsum  quarries  of 
Montmartre,  is  the  Adapis.  Tiie  form  of  this  creature  most  nearly  re- 
sembled that  of  a  hedgehog,  but  it  was  three  times  the  size  of  that  animal : 
it  seems  to  have  formed  a  link  connecting  the  Pachydermata  with  the  In- 
sectivorous Caniivora. 


72  TERTIARY  SERIES. 

fossil  remains.  After  stating  by  what  slow  grees  the  ca- 
binets of  Paris  had  been  filled  with  innumerable  fragments 
of  bones  of  unknown  animals,  from  the  gypsum  quarries  of 
Mont  Martre,  Cuvier  thus  records  the  manner  in  which  he 
applied  himself  to  the  task  of  reconstructing  their  skeletons. 
Having  gradually  ascertained  that  there  were  numerous 
species,  belonging  to  many  genera,  "  I  at  length  found  my- 
self," says  he,  "  as  if  placed  in  a  charnel  house,  surrounded 
by  mutilated  fragments  of  many  hundred  skeletons,  of  more 
than  twenty  kinds  of  animals,  piled  confusedly  around  me : 
the  task  assigned  me,  was  to  restore  them  all  to  their  origi- 
nal position.  At  the  voice  of  comparative  anatomy,  every 
bone,  and  fragment  of  a  bone,  resumed  its  place.  I  cannot 
find  words  to  express  the  pleasure  I  experienced  in  seeing, 
as  I  discovered  one  character,  how  all  the  consequences, 
which  I  predicted  from  it,  were  successively  confirmed  ;  the 
feet  were  found  in  accordance  with  the  characters  an- 
nounced by  the  teeth ;  the  teeth  in  harmony  with  those  in- 
dicated beforehand  by  the  feet ;  the  bones  of  the  legs  and 
thighs,  and  every  connecting  portion  of  the  extremities, 
were  found  set  together  precisely  as  I  had  arranged  them, 
oefore  my  conjectures  were  verified  by  the  discovery  of  the 
parts  entire  :  in  short,  each  species  was,  as  it  were,  recon- 
structed from  a  single  one  of  its  component  elements."  (Cu- 
vier's  Ossemens  Fossiles,  1812,  torn.  iii.  Introduction,  p. 
3,  4.) 

Thus,  by  placing  before  his  readers  the  progress  of  his 
discovery,  and  restorations  of  unknown  species  and  genera, 
in  the  same  irregular  succession  in  which  they  occurred  to 
him,  he  derives  from  this  disorder  the  strongest  demonstra- 
tion of  the  accuracy  of  the  principles  which  formed  his  guide 
throughout  the  whole  inquiry ;  the  last  found  fragments  con- 
drming  the  conclusions  he  had  drawn  from  those  first 
brought  to  fight,  and  his  retrograde  steps  being  as  nothing, 
in  comparison  with  his  predictions  which  were  verified. 

Discoveries  thus  conducted,  demonstrate  the  constancy 
of  the  laws  of  co-existence  that  have  ever  pervaded  all  ani- 


MAMMALIA  OF  EOCENE  PERIOD. 


73 


mated  nature,  and  place  these  extinct  genera  in  close  con- 
nexion with  the  living  orders  of  Mammalia. 

We  may  estimate  the  number  of  the  animals  collected  in 
the  gypsum  of  Mont  Martre,  from  the  fact,  stated  by  Cuvier, 
that  scarcely  a  block  is  taken  from  these  quarries  which 
does  not  disclose  some  fragment  of  a  fossil  skeleton.  Mil- 
lions of  such  bones,  he  adds,  must  have  been  destroyed,  be- 
fore attention  was  directed  to  the  subject. 

The  subjoined  list  of  fossil  animals  found  in  the  gypsum 
quarries  of  the  neighbourhood  of  Paris,  affords  important 
information  as  to  the  population  of  this  first  lacustrine  por- 
tion of  the  tertiary  series.*     (See  PI.  1.  Figs.  73  to  96.) 

*  List  of  Vertebral  Animals  found  in  the  Gypsum  of  the  Basin 
OF  Paris. 


r  Palseotherium     . 

_,     ,     ,  .      !    Anonlotherium  . 

Paehydermata  <   ^,    ' 

I    Cheropotamus     . 

\^Adapis       .     .     . 
r  Bat. 


}  Extinct  species,  of  extinct 
genera. 


Ca  rnivora 


Marsupialia 


Rodentia 


Birds 


Reptiles 


Fishes  . . . 
VOL.  I. 


•<^ 


Canis 


Large  Wolf,  differing  from  any  exist- 
ing species. 
Fox. 
Coatis  (Nasua,  Storr,)  large  Coati,  now  native  of 

tlie  warm  parts  of  America, 
Racoon  (Procyon,  Storr,)  North  America. 
Genette    (Genetta,  Cuv.,  Viverra  Genetta,  Linn.,) 
now   extending   from  the   South   of  Europe    to 
v..     Cape  of  Good  Hope. 
Opossum,   small  (Didelphis,   Linn.,)   allied   to   the 

Opossum  of  North  and  South  America. 
Dormouse  (Myoxus,  Gm.,)  two  small  species. 
Squirrel  (Sciurus.) 
"  Birds,  nine   or  ten   species,  referable    to   the    fol- 
lowing   genera :    Buzzard,   Owl,    Quail,  Wood- 
cock,   Sea-Lark     (Tringa,)    Curlew,   and    Peli- 
can. 

Fresh-water  Tortoises,  Trionyx,  Emys. 
Crocodile. 


H 


Seven  extinct  species  of  extinct  Genera. 


Agass. 


74  TERTIARY  SERIES. 

Besides  the  many  extinct  species,  and  existing  genera  of 
Mammalia  that  are  enumerated  in  this  list,  the  occurrence 
of  nine  or  ten  extinct  species  of  fossil  Birds  in  the  Eocene 
period  of  the  tertiary  series,  forms  a  striking  phenomenon 
in  the  history  of  organic  remains.* 

In  this  small  number  of  species,  we  have  seven  genera ; 
and  these  afford  examples  of  four,  out  of  the  six  great 
Orders  into  which  the  existing  Class  of  Birds  is  divided,  viz. 
Accipitres,  Gallinacece,  Gralla?,  and  Palmipedes.  Even  the 
eggs  of  aquatic  birds  have  been  preserved  in  the  lacustrine 
formations  of  Cournon,  in  Auvergne.f 

It  appears  that  the  animal  kingdom  was  thus  early  esta- 
blished, on  the  same  general  principles  that  now  prevail ; 
not  only  did  the  four  present  Classes  of  Vertebrata  exist ; 
and  among  Mammalia,  the  Orders  Pachydermata,  Carni- 
vora,  Rodentia,  and  Marsupialia ;  but  many  of  the  genera 
also,  into  which  living  families  are  distributed,  were  asso- 
ciated together,  in  the  same  system  of  adaptations  and  rela- 
tions, which  they  hold  to  each  other  in  the  actual  creation. 
The  Pachydermata  and  Rodentia  were  kept  in  check  by  the 

♦  The  only  remains  of  Birds  yet  noticed  in  strata  of  the  Secondary  series 
are  the  bones  of  some  Wader,  larger  than  a  common  Heron,  found  by  Mr. 
Mantell  in  the  fresh-water  formation  of  Tilgate  Forest.  The  bones  at 
Stonesfield,  once  supposed  to  be  derived  from  Birds,  are  now  referred  to 
Pterodactyles.  A  discovery  has  recently  been  made  in  America  by  Pro- 
fessor Hitchcock,  of  the  footsteps  of  Birds  in  the  New  Red  sandstone  of  the 
valley  of  the  Connecticut,  which  he  refers  to  at  least  seven  species,  all  appa- 
rently Waders,  having  very  long  legs,  and  of  various  dimensions  from  the 
size  of  a  Snipe,  to  twice  the  size  of  an  Ostrich.     (See  PI.  2Ga.  26b.) 

t  In  the  same  Eocene  formation  with  these  eggs,  there  occur  also  the  re- 
mains of  two  species  of  Anoplotherium,  a  Lophiodon,  an  Anthracrotherium, 
a  Hippopotamus,  a  ruminating  animal,  a  Dog,  a  Martin,  a  Lagomys,  a  Rat, 
one  or  two  Tortoises,  a  Crocodile,  a  Serpent  or  Lizard,  and  three  or  four 
species  of  Birds.  These  remains  are  dispersed  singly,  as  if  the  animals 
from  which  they  were  derived  had  decomposed  slowly  and  at  different  in- 
tervals, and  thus  fragments  of  their  bodies  had  been  lodged  irregularly  in 
various  parts  of  the  bottom  of  the  ancient  laiic:  these  bones  are  sometimes 
broken,  but  never  rolled. 


MAMMAMA  OF  EOCENE  PERIOD.  75 

Carnivora — the  Gallinaceous  birds  were  controlled  by  the 
Accipitres. 

"  Le  Regne  Animal,  a  ces  epoques  reculees,  etait  com- 
pose d'apres  les  memes  lois;  il  comprenoit  les  m^mes  classes, 
less  memes  families  que  de  nos  jours;  et  en  effet,  parmi  les 
divers  systemes  sur  I'origine  des  etres  organises,  il  n'en  est 
pas  de  moins  vraisemblable  que  celui  qui  en  fait  naitre  suc- 
cessivement  les  differens  genres  par  des  developpomens  on 
des  metamorphoses  graduelles."  (Cuvier,  Oss.  Foss.  t.  3, 
p.  297.) 

This  numerical  preponderance  of  Pachydermata,  among 
the  earliest  fossil  Mammalia,  beyond  the  proportion  they 
bear  among  existing  quadrupeds,  is  a  remarkable  fact,  much 
insisted  on  by  Cuvier;  because  it  supplies,  from  the  relics  of 
a  former  world,  many  intermediate  forms  which  do  not  oc- 
cur in  the  present  distribution  of  that  important  Order.  As 
the  living  genera  of  Pachydermata  are  more  widely  sepa- 
rated from  one  another,  than  those  of  any  other  Order  oi 
Mammalia,  it  is  important  to  fill  these  vacant  intervals  with 
the  fossil  genera  of  a  former  state  of  the  earth ;  thus  supply- 
ing links  that  appeared  deficient  in  the  grand  continuous 
chain  which  connects  all  past  and  present  forms  of  organic 
life,  as  parts  of  one  great  system  of  Creation.* 


*  An  account  lias  recently  been  received  from  India  of  the  discover}' 
of  an  unknown  and  very  curious  fossil  ruminating  animal,  nearly  as  large 
as  an  Elephant,  which  supplies  a  new  and  important  link  in  the  Order  of 
Mammalia,  between  the  Ruminantia  and  Pachydermata.  A  detailed  de- 
scription of  this  animal  his  been  published  by  Dr.  Falconer  and  Captain 
Cautley,  who  have  given  it  the  name  of  Savitherium,  from  the  Sivalic  or 
Sub.Himalayan  range  ofliills  in  which  it  was  found,  between  the  Jumna 
and  the  Ganges.  In  size  it  exceeded  the  largest  Rhinoceros.  The  head 
has  been  discovered  nearly  entire.  The  front  of  the  skull  is  remarkably 
wide,  and  retains  the  bony  cores  of  two  short  thick  and  straight  horns, 
similar  in  position  to  those  of  the  four-horned  Antelope  of  Hindoostan. 
The  nasal  bones  are  salient  in  a  degree  without  example  among  Rumi- 
nants, and  exceeding  in  this  respect  those  of  the  Rhinoceros,  Tapir,  and 
Palffiotherium,  the  only  herbivorous   animals  that  have  this  sort  of  struc- 


76  TERTIARY  SER.IES. 

As  the  bones  of  all  these  animals  found  in  the  earliest 
series  of  the  tertiary  deposites  are  accompanied  by  the  re- 
mains of  reptiles,  such  as  now  inhabit  the  fresh  waters  of 
warm  countries,  e.  g.  the  Crocodile,  Emys,  and  Trionyx 
(see  PI.  1,  Figs.  80,  81,  82,)  and  also  by  the  leaves  and 
prostrate  trunks  of  palm  trees  (PI.  1,  Figs.  66,  67,  68,  and 
PI.  56,)  we  cannot  but  infer  that  the  temperature  of  France 
was  much  higher  than  it  is  at  present,  at  the  time  when  it 
was  occupied  by  these  plants  and  reptiles,  and  by  Mamma- 
lia allied  to  families  which  are  natives  of  some  of  the 
warmest  latitudes  of  the  present  earth,  e.  g.  the  Tapir,  Rhi- 
noceros, and  Hippopotamus. 

The  frequent  intrusion  of  volcanic  rocks  is  a  remarkable 
accompaniment  of  the  tertiary  strata  of  the  Eocene  period, 
in  various  parts  of  Europe ;  and  changes  of  level,  resulting 
from  volcanic  agency,  may  partially  explain  the  fact,  that 
portions  of  the  same  districts  became  alternately  the  recep- 
tacles of  fresh  and  salt  water. 

The  fresh-water  calcareous  deposites  of  this  period  are 
also  highly  important,  in  relation  to  the  general  history  of 
the  origin  of  limestone,  from  their  aflbrding  strong  evidence 
of  the  sources  whence  carbonate  of  lime  has  been  derived.* 

ture.  Hence  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  Sivatherium  was  invested  with  a 
trunk  like  the  Tapir.  Its  jaw  is  twice  as  large  as  that  of  a  Buffalo,  and 
larger  tlian  that  of  a  Rliinoceros.  The  remains  of  the  Sivatherium  were  ac- 
companied by  those  of  tlic  Elephant,  Mastodon,  Rhinoceros,  Hippopotamus, 
several  Ruminantiaj  &c. 

It  is  stated  that  there  is  a  wider  distance  between  the  living  Genera  of 
the  Order  Pachydermata  tlian  between  those  of  any  other  Order  of  Mam- 
malia, and  that  many  intervals  in  the  series  of  these  animals  have  been 
filled  up  by  extinct  Genera  and  Species,  discovered  in  strata  of  the  Tertiary 
series.  The  Sivatherium  forms  an  important  addition  to  the  extinct  Genera 
of  this  intermediate  and  connecting  character.  The  value  of  such  links 
with  reference  to  considerations  in  Natural  Theology  will  be  alluded  to  else- 
where. 

*  We  see  that  thermal  springs,  in  volcanic  districts,  issue  from  the 
earth,  so  highly  charged  with  carbonate  of  lime,  as  to  overspread  large 
tracts  of  country  with  beds  of  calcareous  tufa,  or  travertino.    The  waters 


MAMMALIA  OF  THE  MIOCENE  PERIOD.  77  „ 

Mammalia  of  the  Miocene  Period. 

The  second  or  Miocene  System  of  Tertiary  Deposites, 
contains  an  admixture  of  the  extinct  genera  of  lacustrine 
mammalia,  of  the  first  or  Eocene  series,  with  the  earliest 

that  flow  from  the  Lagodi  Tartaro,  near  Rome,  and  t!ie  hot  springs  of  San 
Filippo,  on  the  borders  of  Tuscany,  are  well-known  examples  of  this  pheno- 
menon. These  existing  operations  afford  a  nearly  certain  explanation  of  the 
origin  of  extensive  beds  of  limestone  in  fresh-water  lakes  of  the  tertiary  pe- 
riod, where  we  know  them  to  have  been  formed  during  seasons  of  intense 
volcanic  activity.  They  seem  also  to  indicate  the  probable  agency  of 
thermal  waters  in  the  formation  of  still  larger  calcareous  deposites  at  the 
bottom  of  the  sea,  during  preceding  periods  of  the  secondary  and  transition 
series. 

It  is  a  difficult  problem  to  account  for  the  source  of  the  enormous  masses 
of  carbonate  of  lime  that  compose  nearly  one-eighth  part  of  the  superficial 
crust  of  the  globe.  Some  have  referred  it  entirely  to  the  secretions  of  marine 
animals ;  an  origin  to  which  we  must  obviously  assign  those  portions  of 
calcareous  strata  which  are  composed  of  comminuted  shells  and  corallines  : 
but,  until  it  can  be  shown  that  these  animals  have  the  power  of  forming  lime 
from  other  elements,  vvc  must  suppose  that  they  derived  it  from  the  sea, 
cither  directly,  or  through  the  medium  of  its  plants.  In  cither  case,  it  re- 
mains to  find  the  source  whence  the  sea  obtained,  not  only  these  supplies 
of  carbonate  of  lime  for  its  animal  iniiabilants,  but  also  the  still  larger 
quantities  of  the  same  substance,  that  have  been  precipitated  in  the  form  of 
calcareous  strata. 

We  cannot  suppose  it  to  have  resulted,  like  sands  and  clays,  from  tiic  me- 
chanical detritus  of  rocks  of  the  granitic  scries,  because  the  quantity  of  lime 
these  rocks  contain,  bears  no  proportion  to  its  large  amount  among  the  de- 
rivative rocks.  The  only  remaining  hypothesis  seems  to  be,  that  lime  was 
eontinually  introduced  to  lakes  and  seas,  by  water  that  had  percolated  rocks 
through  which  calcareous  earth  was   disseminated. 

Although  carbonate  of  lime  occurs  not  in  distinct  masses  among  rocks  of 
igneous  origin,  it  forms  an  ingredient  of  lava  and  basalt,  and  of  various  kinds 
of  trap  rocks.  The  calcareous  matter  thus  dispersed  through  the  substance 
of  these  volcanic  rocks,  seems  to  afford  a  magazine  from  which  percolating 
water,  charged  with  carbonic  acid  gas,  may,  in  the  lapse  of  ages,  have  de- 
rived sufficient  carbonate  of  lime  to  form  all  the  existing  strata  of  limestone, 
by  successive  precipitates  at  the  bottom  of  ancient  lakes  and  seas.  Mr.  De 
la  Bcche  states  the  quantity  of  lime  in  granite  composed  of  two-fifths  quartz, 
two-fifths  felspar,  and  one-fifth  mica,  to  be  0.37  ;  and  in  greenstone,  com- 
posed of  equal  parts  of  felspar  and  hornblende,  to  be  7.29.    (Geol.  Researches, 

7* 


78 


TERTIARY  SERIES. 


forms  of  genera  which  exist  at  the  present  time.  This  ad- 
mixture was  first  noticed  by  M.  Desnoyers,  in  the  marine 
formations  of  the  faluns  of  Touraine.*  Similar  admixtures 
have  been  found  in  Bavaria,f  and  near  Darmstadt.J     Many 

p.  379.) — The  compact  lava  of  Calabria  contains  10.  of  carbonate  of  lime, 
and  the  basalt  of  Saxony  9.  5. 

We  may  in  like  manner,  refer  Ihc  origin  of  those  large  quantities  of 
silex,  which  constitute  the  chert  and  flint  beds  of  stratified  formations,  to 
the  waters  of  hot  springs,  holding  siliceous  earth  in  solution,  and  depo- 
siting it  on  exposure  to  reduced  degrees  of  temperature  and  pressure,  as 
silex  is  deposited  by  the  hot  waters  that  issue  from  the  geysers  of  Ice- 
land. 

*  Here,  the  remains  of  Palffiotheriura,  Anthracotherium,  and  Lophiodon, 
which  formed  the  prevailing  genera  in  the  Eocene  period,  are  found  mixed 
with  bones  of  the  Tapir,  Mastodon,  Rhinoceros,  Hippopotamus,  and  Horse: 
these  bones  are  fractured  and  rolled,  and  sometimes  covered  with  flustra, 
and  must  have  been  derived  from  carcasses  drifted  into  an  estuary,  or 
sea.     Annates  des  Sciences  Naturclles.     Fevrier,  1828. 

t  Count  Munster  and  Mr.  Murchison  have  discovered,  at  Georgensge- 
mund,  in  Bavaria,  the  bones  of  Paloetherium,  Anoplotherium,  and  Anthraco- 
therium, mixed  with  those  of  Mastodon,  Riiinoceros,  Hippopotamus,  Horse, 
Ox,  Bear,  Fox,  &c. ;  and  several  species  of  land  shells. 

A  very  interesting  detailed  description  of  the  remains  found  at  this  place 
has  been  published  by  Hermann  von  Meyer  Frankfurt,  1834,  4to.  with  14 
plates. 

t  We  learn  from  the  excellent  publication  of  Professor  Kaup,  of  Darmstadt, 
that  at  Epplesheim,  near  Altzey,  about  twelve  leagues  south  of  Mayence,  re- 
mains of  the  following  animals  have  been  found,  in  strata  of  sand,  referable 
to  the  second  or  Miocene  period  of  the  tertiary  formations.  These  arc  pre- 
served in  the  Museum  at  Darmstadt. 


f  Gigantic  Herbivorous  Animals  fifteen 
(      and  eighteen  feet  long. 

Larger  tiian  living  species. 

Allied  to  Tapirs. 

Allied  to  Mastodon. 
Allied  to  the  Horse. 
Hog. 

Jiarge  Cats,  some  as  large  as  a  Lion. 
Allied  to  Bear.    Ursus  Cultridens. 
Glutton. 

Allied  to  Dog,  large  as  a  Lion. 
IS  Fossilcs,  par  Kaup.     Darmst.  1832. 


Vumber  of 
Species. 

Dinothcrium 

.  2 

Tapirus 

•  2 

Chalicolherium 

2 

Rhinoceros 

2 

Telraeaulodon 

.  1  . 

Hippothcrium 

.  1  . 

Sus 

.  3  . 

Fclis 

.  4  . 

Machairodus 

.     .  1  . 

Gulo 

.     .  1  . 

Agnotherium     . 

1  . 

See  description  d'  Osscme 


MAMMALIA  OF  PLIOCENE  PERIODS.  79 

of  these  animals  also  indicate  a  lacustrine  or  swampy  con- 
dition of  the  regions  they  inhabited :  one  of  them,  the  Dino- 
therium  giganteum  (gigantic  Tapir  of  Cuvier,)  is  calculated 
to  have  been  eighteen  feet  in  length,  and  was  much  the 
largest  of  all  terrestrial  Mammalia  yet  discovered,  exceed- 
ing even  the  largest  fossil  elephant. 

The  Dinotherium  will  be  described  in  a  subsequent  chap- 
ter. 

Mammalia  of  the  Pliocene  Periods. 

The  third,  and  fourth,  or  Pliocene  devisions  of  the  tertiary 
fresh-water  deposites,  contain  no  more  traces  of  the  extinct 
lacustrine  genera  of  the  Palaeotherian  family,  but  abound  in 
extinct  species  of  existing  genera  of  Pachydermata,  e.  g. 
Elephant,  Rhinoceros,  Hippopotamus,  and  Horse,  together 
with  the  extinct  genus  Mastodon.  With  these  also  occur 
the  first  abundant  traces  of  Ruminantia,  e.  g.  Oxen  and 
Deer.  The  number  of  Rodentia  becomes  also  enlarged; 
and  the  carnivora  assume  a  numerical  importance  com- 
mensurate with  the  increased  numbers  of  terrestrial  herbi- 
vora. 

The  seas,  also,  of  the  Miocene  and  Pliocene  periods,  were 
inhabited  by  marine  Mammalia,  consisting  of  Whales,  Dol- 
phins, Seals,  Walrus,  and  the  Lamantin,  or  Manati,  whose 
existing  species  are  chiefly  found  near  the  coasts  and  mouths 
of  rivers  in  the  torrid  zone  (see  PI.  1,  Figs.  97  to  101.)  The 
presence  of  the  Lamantin  adds  another  argument  to  those 
which  arise  from  the  tropical  character  of  many  other  ani- 
mals, even  of  the  latest  tertiary  strata,  in  favour  of  the  opi- 
nion, that  the  climate  of  Europe  maintained  a  high,  though 
probably  a  gradually  decreasing  temperature,  even  to  the 
latest  periods  of  tertiary  formations. 

We  have  many  sources  of  evidence  whereby  the  history 
of  the  Pliocene  periods  is  illustrated :  First,  we  have  the  re- 
mains of  terrestrial  animals,  drifted  into  estuaries  or  seas. 


80  TERTIARY  SERIES. 

and  preserved  together  with  marine  shells;  such  are  the 
Subapennine  marine  formations,  containing  the  remains  of 
Elephant,  Rhinoceros,  &c.  and  the  Crag  of  Norfolk.* 

Secondly,  we  have  similar  remains  of  terrestrial  quad- 
rupeds, mixed  with  fresh-water  shells,  in  strata  formed 
during  the  same  epoch,  at  the  bottom  of  fresh-water  lakes 
and  ponds;  such  as  those  which  occur  in  the  Val  D'Arno, 
and  in  the  small  lacustrine  deposite  at  North  CUff,  near  Mar- 
ket Weighton,  in  Yorkshire.  (See  Phil.  Mag.  1829,  vol. 
vi.  p.  225.) 

Thirdly,  we  have  remains  of  the  same  animals  in  caverns 
and  fissures  of  rocks,  which  formed  parts  of  the  dry  land 
during  the  more  recent  portions  of  the  same  period.  Such 
are  the  bones  collected  by  Hyaenas,  in  the  caves  of  Kirk- 
dale,  Kent's  Hole,  Lunel,  &c.:  and  the  bones  of  Bears  in 
caverns  of  the  limestone  rocks  of  central  Germany,  and  the 
Grotte  d'Osselles,  near  Besangon.  Such  also  are  the  bones 
of  the  osseous  breccia,  found  in  fissures  of  limestone  rocks 
on  the  northern  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  in  similar 
fissures  of  hmestone  at  Plymouth,  and  in  the  Mendip  Hills 
in  Somerset.  These  are  derived  chiefly  from  horbivora 
which  fell  into  the  fissures  before  they  were  partially  filled 
with  the  detritus  of  a  violent  inundation. 

Fourthly,  we  have  the  same  remains  contained  in  depo- 
sites  of  diluvial  detritus,  dispersed  over  the  surface  of  forma- 
tions of  all  ages. 

As  I  have  elsewhere  (Reliquiae  Diluviansef)  entered  into 

*  In  tlie  museum  at  Milan,  I  have  seen  a  large  part  of  tl\e  skeleton  of 
a  Rhinoceros,  from  tlie  Sub  appennine  formation,  having  oyster  sliells  at- 
tached to  many  of  its  bones,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  show  that  the  skeleton 
must  have  remained  undisturbed  for  a  considerable  time  at  the  bottom  of  th& 
sea.  Cuvier  also  states  tliat  in  the  museum  at  Turin  there  is  the  head  of  an 
elephant,  to  which  sliells  of  the  same  kind  were  similarly  attached,  and 
fitted  to  the  form  of  the  bones. 

■j-  The  evidence  which  I  have  collected  in  my  Reliquix  Diluvianx, 
1823,  shows,  that  one  of  the  last  great  physical  events  that  have  affected 
the  surface  of  our  globe,  v.'as  a  violent  inundation,  which  overwhelmed 


MAMMALIA  OF  PLIOCENE  PEK.IODS.  81 

tlie  evidences  illustrating  the  state  of  animal  life,  during  the 
period  immediately  preceding  the  formation  of  this  diluvium. 
I  must  refer  to  that  work  for  details  respecting  the  nature 
and  habits  of  the  then  existing  population  of  the  earth.  It 
appears  that  at  this  epoch,  the  whole  surface  of  Europe  was 
densely  peopled  by  various  orders  of  Mammalia ;  that  the 
numbers  of  the  herbivora  were  maintained  in  due  proportion 
by  the  controlHng  influence  of  carnivora ;  and  that  the  indi- 
viduals of  every  species  were  constructed  in  a  manner  fitting 
each  to  its  own  enjoyment  of  the  pleasures  of  existence,  and 
placing  it  in  due  and  useful  relations  to  the  animal  and  ve- 
getable kingdoms  by  which  it  was  surrounded. 

great  part  of  the  northern  hemisphere,  and  that  this  event  was  followed  by 
the  sudden  disappearance  of  a  large  number  of  the  species  of  terrestrial 
quadrupeds,  which  had  inhabited  these  regions  in  the  period  immediately 
preceding  it.  I  also  ventured  to  apply  the  name  Diluvium  to  the  superficial 
beds  of  gravel,  clay,  and  sand,  which  appear  to  have  been  produced  by  this 
great  irruption  of  water. 

The  description  of  tlie  facts  tliat  form  the  evidence  presented  in  this 
volume,  is  kept  distinct  from  the  question  of  the  identity  of  the  event 
attested  by  them,  with  any  deluge  recorded  in  history.  Discoveries 
which  have  been  made,  since  the  publication  of  tiiis  work,  show  that 
many  of  the  animals  therein  described,  existed  during  more  than  one  geo- 
logical period  preceding  the  catastrophe  by  which  they  were  extirpated. 
Hence  it  seems  more  probable,  that  the  event  in  question,  was  the  last  of 
the  many  geological  revolutions  that  have  been  produced  by  violent  ir- 
ruptions of  water,  rather  than  the  comparatively  tranquil  inundation  de- 
scribed in  the  Inspired  Narrative. 

It  has  been  justly  argued,  against  the  attempt  to  identify  these  two 
great  historical  and  natural  phenomena,  that  as  the  rise  and  fall  of  the 
waters  of  the  Mosaic  deluge  are  described  to  have  been,  gradual,  and  of 
short  duration,  they  would  have  produced  comparatively  little  change  on 
the  surface  on  the  country  they  overflowed.  The  large  preponderance  of 
extinct  species  among  the  animals  we  find  in  caves,  and  in  superficial  de- 
posites  of  diluvium,  and  the  non-discovery  of  human  bones  along  with  them, 
afford  other  strong  reasons  for  referring  these  species  to  a  period  anterior  to 
the  creation  of  man.  This  important  point,  however,  cannot  be  considered 
as  completely  settled,  till  more  detailed  investigations  of  the  newest  mem- 
bers of  the  Pliocene,  and  of  the  diluvial  and  alluvial  formations  shall  have 
taken  place. 


zis-f 


82  RELATIONS  OF  THE  EARTH 

Every  comparative  anatomist  is  familiar  with  the  beauti- 
ful examples  of  mechanical  contrivance  and  compensations, 
vi'hich  adapt  each  existing  species  of  herbivora  and  carni- 
vora  to  its  own  peculiar  place  and  state  of  life.  Such  con- 
trivances began  not  with  living  species :  the  geologist  de- 
monstrates their  prior  existence  in  the  extinct  forms  of  the 
same  genera  which  he  discovers  beneath  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  and  he  claims  for  the  Author  of  these  fossil  forms 
under  which  the  first  typos  of  such  mechanisms  were  em- 
bodied, the  same  high  attributes  of  Wisdom  and  Goodness, 
the  demonstration  of  which  exalts  and  sanctifies  the  labours 
of  science,  in  her  investigation  of  the  organizations  of  the 
living  world. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Relations  of  the  Earth  and  its  Inhabitants  to  Man. 

From  the  statements  which  have  been  made  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapters,  it  appears  that  five  principal  causes  have 
been  instrumental  in  producing  the  actual  condition  of  the 
surface  of  our  globe.  First,  the  passage  of  the  unstratified 
crystalline  rocks,  from  a  fluid  to  a  solid  state. — Secondly, 
The  deposition  of  stratified  rocks  at  the  bottom  of  the  an- 
cient seas. — Thirdly,  The  elevation  both  of  stratified  and 
unstratified  rocks  from  beneath  the  sea,  at  successive  inter- 
vals, to  form  continents  and  islands. — Fourthly,  Violent  in- 
undations ;  and  the  decomposing  Power  of  atmospheric 
agents;  producing  partial  destruction  of  these  lands,  and 
forming,  from  their  detritus,  extensive  beds  of  gravel,  sand, 
and  clay. — Fifthly,  Volcanic  eruptions. 

We  shall  form  a  better. estimate  of  the  utility  of  the  com- 


TO    THE    USES    OF    MAN.  83 

plex  disposition  of  the  materials  of  the  earth,  which  has  re- 
sulted from  the  operations  of  all  these  mighty  conflicting 
forces,  if  we  consider  the  inconveniences  that  might  have 
attended  other  arrangements,  more  simple  than  those  which 
actually  exist.  Had  the  earth's  surface  presented  only  one 
unvaried  mass  of  granite  or  lava ;  or,  had  its  nucleus  been 
surrounded  by  entire  concentric  coverings  of  stratified  rocks, 
like  the  coats  of  an  onion,  a  single  stratum  only  would  have 
been  accessible  to  its  inhabitants  ;  and  the  varied  intermix- 
tures of  limestone,  clay,  and  sandstone,  which,  under  the 
actual  disposition,  are  so  advantageous  to  the  fertility, 
beauty,  and  habitability,  of  the  globe,  would  have  had  no 
place. 

Again,  the  inestimably  precious  treasures  of  mineral  salt 
and  coal,  and  of  metallic  ores,  confined  as  these  latter  chiefly 
are,  to  the  older  series  of  formations,  would,  under  the  sup- 
posed more  simple  arrangement  of  the  strata,  have  been 
wholly  inaccessible ;  and  we  should  have  been  destitute  of 
all  these  essential  elements  of  industry  and  civilization.  Un- 
der the  existing  disposition,  all  the  various  combinations  of 
strata  with  their  valuable  contents,  whether  produced  by 
the  agency  of  subterranean  fire,  or  by  mechanical,  or  che- 
mical deposition  beneath  the  water,  have  been  raised  above 
the  sea,  to  form  the  mountains  and  the  plains  of  the  present 
earth ;  and  have  still  farther  been  laid  open  to  our  reach, 
by  the  exposure  of  each  stratum,  along  the  sides  of  val- 
leys. 

With  a  view  to  human  uses,  the  production  of  a  soil  fitted 
for  agriculture,  and  the  general  dispersion  of  metals,  more 
especially  of  that  most  important  metal,  iron,  were  almost 
essential  conditions  of  the  earth's  habitability  by  civilized 
man. 

I  would  in  this,  as  in  all  other  cases,  be  unwilling  to  press 
the  theory  of  relation  to  the  human  race,  so  far  as  to  con- 
tend that  all  the  great  geological  phenomena  we  have  been 
•considering  were  conducted  solely  and  exclusively  with  a 


84  RELATIONS    OF    ANIMALS 

view  to  the  benefit  of  man.  We  may  rather  count  the  ad- 
vantages he  derives  from  them  as  incidental  and  residuary 
consequences ;  w^hich,  although  they  may  not  have  formed 
the  exclusive  object  of  creation,  were  all  foreseen  and  com- 
prehended in  the  plans  of  the  Great  Architect  of  that  Globe, 
which,  in  his  appointed  time,  was  destined  to  become  the 
scene  of  human  habitation.* 

With  respect  to  the  animal  kingdom,  we  acknowledge 
with  gratitude,  that  among  the  higher  classes,  there  is  a 
certain  number  of  living  species,  which  are  indispensable  to 
the  supply  of  human  food  and  raiment,  and  to  the  aid  of 
civilized  man  in  his  various  labours  and  occupations ;  and 

*  "  It  is  true  that  by  applying  ourselves  to  the  study  of  nature,  we 
daily  find  more  and  more  uses  in  things  that  at  first  appeared  useless. 
But  some  tilings  are  of  such  a  kind  as  not  to  admit  of  being  applied  to 
the  benefit  of  man,  and  otiiers  too  noble  for  us  to  claim  the  sole  use  of 
them.  Man  has  no  farther  concern  with  this  earth  than  a  few  fathoms 
under  his  feet :  was  then  the  whole  solid  globe  made  only  for  a  founda- 
tion to  support  the  slender  shell  he  treads]  upon  ?  Do  the  magnetic  efflu- 
via course  incessantly  over  land  and  sea,  only  to  turn  here  and  there  a 
mariner's  compass  ?  Are  those  immense  bodies,  tiie  fixed  stars,  hung  up 
for  nothing  but  to  twinkle  in  our  eyes  by  night,  or  to  find  employment 
for  a  few  astronomers  ?  Surely  he  must  have  an  overweening  conceit  of 
man's  importance,  who  can  imagine  this  stupendous  frame  of  the  universe 
made  for  him  alone.  Nevertheless,  we  may  so  far  acknowledge  all  things 
made  for  man  as  that  his  uses  are  regarded  conjointly  with  those  of  other 
creatures,  and  that  he  has  an  interest  in  every  thing  reaching  his  notice^ 
and  contributing  either  to  the  support  of  his  body,  the  improvement  or 
entertainment  of  his  mind.  The  satellites  tliat  turn  the  night  of  Jupiter 
into  day,  assist  him  in  ascertaining  the  longitude,  and  measuring  the  ve- 
locity of  liglit  :  the  mighty  sun,  that  like  a  giant  holds  llie  planets  and 
comets  in  their  orbits,  enlightens  him  with  its  splendour,  and  cherishes 
him  with  its  warmth :  the  distant  stars,  whose  attraction  probably  con- 
fines other  planets  within  their  vortices,  direct  his  course  over  the  bound- 
less sea,  and  the  inhospitable  desert." — Tucker's  Light  of  Nature,  book  iii. 
chap.  ix.  p.  9. 

See  an  excellent  note  on  prospective  provisions,  to  afford  materials  for 
human  arts,  and  having  reference  to  the  future  discoveries  of  human 
science,  in  Rev.  W.  D.  Conybeare's  Inaugural  Address  to  Bristol  College, 
1831. 


TO  THE  USES  OF  MAN.  85 

that  these  are  endowed  with  dispositions  and  faculties  which 
adapt  them  in  a  peculiar  decree  for  domestication:*  but  their 
number  bears  an  extremely  small  proportion  to  the  total 
amount  of  existing  species ;  and  with  regard  to  the  lower 
classes  of  animals,  there  are  but  very  few  among  their  al- 
most countless  multitudes,  that  minister  either  to  the  wants 
or  luxuries  of  the  human  race.  Even  could  it  be  proved 
that  all  existing  species  are  serviceable  to  man,  no  such  in- 
ference could  be  drawn  with  respect  to  those  numerous  ex- 
tinct animals  which  Geology  shows  to  have  ceased  to  live, 
long  before  our  race  appeared  upon  the  earth.  It  is  surely 
more  consistent  with  sound  philosophy,  and  with  all  the  in- 
formation that  is  vouchsafed  to  us  respecting  the  attributes 
of  the  Deity,  to  consider  each  animal  as  having  been  cre- 
ated first  for  its  own  sake,  to  receive  its  portion  of  that  en- 
joyment which  the  Universal  Parent  is  pleased  to  impart  to 
each  creature  that  has  life ;  and  secondly,  to  bear  its  share 
in  the  maintenance  of  the  general  system  of  co-ordinate  re- 
lations, whereby  all  families  of  living  beings  are  reciprocally 
subservient  to  the  use  and  benefit  of  one  another.  Under 
this  head  only  can  we  include  their  relations  to  man;  form- 
ing, as  he  does,  but  a  small,  although  it  be  the  most  noble 
and  exalted  part,  of  that  vast  system  of  universal  life,  with 
which  it  hath  pleased  the  Creator  to  animate  the  surface  of 
the  globe. 

"  More  than  three-fifths  "of  the  earth's  surface,"  says  Mr. 
Bakewell,  "  are  covered  by  the  ocean;  and  if  from  the  re- 
maining part  we  deduct  the  space  occupied  by  polar  ice 
and  eternal  snow,  by  sandy  deserts,  sterile  mountains, 
marshes,  rivers  and  lakes,  the  habitable  portion  will  scarce- 
ly exceed  one-fifth  of  the  whole  of  the  globe.  Nor  have  we 
reason  to  believe  that  at  any  former  period  the  dominion  of 
man  over  the  earth  was  more  extensive  than  at  present. 
The  remaining  four-fifths  of  our  globe,  though  untenanted 

•  See  Lyell's  Principles  of  Geology,  3d  edit.  vol.  ii.  book.  3,  c.  3. 
VOL.  I. — 8 


86  HUMAN  BONES. 

by  mankind,  are  for  the  most  part  abundantly  stocked  with 
animated  beings,  that  exult  in  the  pleasure  of  existence,  in- 
dependent of  human  control,  and  no  way  subservient  to  the 
necessities  or  caprices  of  man.  Such  is,  and  has  been  for 
several  thousand  years,  the  actual  condition  of  our  planet ; 
nor  is  the  consideration  foreign  to  our  subject,  for  hence  we 
may  feel  less  reluctance  in  admitting  the  prolonged  ages 
or  days  of  creation,  when  numerous  tribes  of  the  lower  or- 
ders of  aquatic  animals  lived  and  flourished,  and  left  their 
remains  imbedded  in  the  strata  that  compose  the  outer  crust 
of  our  planet."  Bakewell's  Introduction  to  Geology,  4th 
edit.  p.  6. 


CHAPTER  XI. 
Supposed  Cases  of  Fossil  Human  Bones. 

Before  Tve  enter  on  the  consideration  of  the  fossil  remains 
of  other  animals,  it  may  be  right  to  inquire  whether  any 
traces  of  the  human  species  have  yet  been  found  in  the  strata 
of  the  earth. 

The  only  evidence  that  has  yet  been  collected  upon  this 
subject  is  negative ;  but  as  far  as  this  extends,  no  conclusion 
is  more  fully  established,  than  the  important  fact  of  the 
total  absence  of  any  vestiges  of  the  human  species  through- 
out the  entire  series  of  geological  formations.*  Had  the 
case  been  otherwise,  there  would  indeed  have  been  great 
difficulty  in  reconciling  the  early  and  extended  periods 
which  have  been  assigned  to  the  extinct  races  of  animals 
with  our  received  chronology.    On  the  other  hand,  the  fact  of 

♦  See  Ly ell's  Principles  of  Geology,  vol.  i.  pp.  153  and  159,  first  edit. 
1830. 


IN  STRATA  OF  RECENT  FORMATION.  87 

no  human  remains  having  as  yet  been  found  in  conjunction 
with  those  of  extinct  animals,  may  be  alleged  in  confirma- 
tion of  the  hypothesis  that  these  animals  lived  and  died  be- 
fore the  creation  of  man. 

The  occasional  discovery  of  human  bones  and  works  of 
art  in  any  stratum,  within  a  few  feet  of  the  surface,  affords 
no  certain  evidence  of  such  remains  being  coveal  with  the 
matrix  in  which  they  arc  deposited.  The  universal  practice 
of  interring  the  dead,  and  frequent  custom  of  placing  various 
instruments  and  utensils  in  the  ground  with  them,  offer  a 
ready  explanation  of  the  presence  of  bones  of  men  in  situa- 
tions accessible  for  the  purposes  of  burial. 

The  most  remarkable  and  only  recorded  case  of  human 
skeletons  imbedded  in  a  solid  limestone  rock,  is  that  on  the 
shore  of  Guadaloupe.*  There  is,  however,  no  reason  t(» 
consider  these  bones  to  be  of  high  antiquity,  as  the  rock  in 
which  they  occur  is  of  very  recent  formation,  and  is  com- 
posed of  agglutinated  fragments  of  shells  and  corals  which 
inhabit  the  adjacent  water.     Such  kind  of  stone  is  frequently 

*  One  of  these  skeletons  is  preserved  in  the  British  Museum,  and  has 
been  described  by  Mr.  KOnig,  in  the  Phil.  Trans,  for  1814,  vol.  civ.  p.  101. 
According  to  General  Ernouf,  (Lin.  Trans.  1818,  vol.  xii.  p.  53,)  the  rock 
in  which  the  human  bones  occur  at  Guadaloupe,  is  composed  of  consoli- 
dated sand,  and  contains  also  shells,  of  species  now  inhabiting  the  adjacent 
sea  and  land,  together  with  fragments  of  pottery,  arrows,  and  hatchets  of 
stone.  The  greater  number  of  the  bones  are  dispersed.  One  entire  skele- 
ton was  extended  in  the  usual  position  of  burial;  another,  which  was  in  u 
.softer  sandstone,  seemed  to  have  been  buried  in  the  sitting  position  cu.stom. 
ary  among  the  Caribs.  The  bodies  thus  differently  interred,  may  Iiave  be- 
longed to  two  different  tribes.  General  Ernouf  also  explains  the  occurrence 
of  the  scattered  bones,  by  reference  to  a  tradition  of  a  battle  and  massacre 
on  this  spot,  of  a  tribe  of  Gallibis  by  the  Cai-ibs,  about  the  year  1710. 
These  scattered  bones  of  the  massacred  Gallibis  were  probably  covered,  b}' 
the  action  of  the  sea,  with  sand,  wiiich  soon  after  became  converted  to  solid 
stone. 

On  the  west  coast  of  Ireland,  near  Killery  Harbour,  a  sand  bank,  which  is 
surrounded  by  the  sea  at  high  water,  is  at  this  time  employed  by  the  natives 
as  a  place  of  interment. 


88  HUMAN  BONES,  ETC. 

formed  in  a  few  years  from  sand-banks  composed  of  similar 
materials,  on  the  shores  of  tropical  seas. 

Frequent  discoveries  have  also  been  made  of  human  bones, 
and  rude  works  of  art,  in  natural  caverns,  sometimes  en- 
closed in  stalactite,  at  other  times  in  beds  of  earthy  mate- 
rials, which  are  interspersed  with  bones  of  extinct  species 
of  quadrupeds.  These  cases  may  likewise  be  explained  by 
the  common  practice  of  mankind  in  all  ages,  to  bury  their 
dead  in  such  convenient  repositories.  The  accidental  cir- 
cumstance that  many  caverns  contained  the  bones  of  ex- 
tinct species  of  other  animals,  dispersed  through  the  same 
soil  in  which  human  bodies  may,  at  any  subsequent  period 
have  been  buried,  afibrds  no  proof  of  the  time  when  these 
remains  of  men  were  introduced. 

Many  of  these  caverns  have  been  inhabited  by  savage 
tribes,  who,  for  convenience  of  occupation,  have  repeatedly 
disturbed  portions  of  soil  in  which  their  predecessors  may 
have  been  buried.  Such  disturbances  will  explain  the  oc- 
casional admixture  of  fragments  of  human  skeletons,  and 
the  bones  of  modern  quadrupeds,  with  those  of  extinct  spe- 
cies, introduced  at  more  early  periods,  and  by  natural 
causes. 

Several  accounts  have  been  putlished  within  the  last  few 
years  of  human  remains  discovered  in  the  caverns  of  France, 
and  the  province  of  Liege,  which  are  described  as  being  of 
the  same  antiquity  with  the  bones  of  Hyrenas,  and  other  ex- 
tinct quadrupeds,  that  accompany  them.  Most  of  these  may 
probably  admit  of  explanation  by  reference  to  the  causes 
just  enumerated.  In  the  case  of  caverns  which  form  the 
channels  of  subterranean  rivers,  or  which  are  subject  to  oc- 
casional inundations,  another  cause  of  the  admixture  of  hu- 
man bones,  with  the  remains  of  animals  of  more  ancient 
date,  may  be  found  in  the  movements  occasioned  by  running 
water.* 

*  since  this  work  was  in  the  press,  the  author  has  seen  at  Li^ge  the 


ORGANIC  REMAINS.  89 


CHAPTER  XII. 


General  History  of  Fossil  Organic  Remains, 

As  "  the  variety  and  formation  of  God's  creatures  in  the 
animal,  vegetable,  and  mineral  kingdoms "  are  special!}' 
marked  out  by  the  founder  of  this  Treatise,  as  the  subjects 
from  v^diich  he  desires  that  proofs  should  be  sought  of  the 
power,  wisdom,  and  goodness  of  the  Creator ;  I  shall  enter 
at  greater  length  into  the  Evidences  of  this  kind,  afforded 
by  fossil  organic  remains,  than  I  might  have  done,  without 
such  specific  directions  respecting  the  source  from  which  my 
arguments  are  to  be  derived.  I  know  not  how  I  can  better 
fulfil  the  object  thus  proposed,  than  by  attempting  to  show 
that  the  extinct  species  of  Animals  and  Vegetables  which 

very  extensive  collection  of  fossil  Bones  made  by  M.  Sclimerling  in  the  ca- 
verns of  that  neighbourhood,  and  has  visited  some  of  the  places  where  they 
were  found.  Many  of  these  bones  appear  to  have  been  brought  together 
like  those  in  the  cave  of  Kirkdale,  by  the  agency  of  Hyaenas,  and  have  evi- 
dently been  gnawed  by  these  animals  ;  others,  particularly  those  of  Bears, 
are  not  broken,  or  gnawed,  but  are  probably  collected  in  the  same  manner 
as  the  bones  of  Bears  in  the  cave  of  (^ailenreuth,  by  the  retreat  of  these  ani- 
mals into  the  recesses  of  caverns  on  the  approach  of  death  ;  some  may  have 
been  introduced  by  the  action  of  water. 

The  human  bones  found  in  these  caverns  are  in  a  state  of  less  decay  than 
those  of  the  extinct  species  of  beasts;  they  are  accompanied  by  rude  flint 
knives  and  other  instruments  of  flint  and  bone,  and  are  probably  derived 
from  uncivilized  tribes  that  inhabited  the  caves.  Some  of  the  human  bones 
jnay  also  be  the  remains  of  individuals  who,  in  more  recent  limes,  may  have 
been  buried  in  sueli  convenient  repositories. 

M.  Sclmicrling,  in  his  Rechercbes  sur  les  Ossemens  Fossiles  des  Cavernes 
ae  Liege,  expresses  his  opinion  that  these  human  bones  are  coeval  v/ith  those 
of  the  quadrupeds,  of  extinct  species,  found  with  them ;  an  opinion  from 
which  the  Author,  after  a  careful  examination  of  M,  Schmerling's  collection, 
entirely  dissents. 

8* 


90  ORGANIC  REMAINS. 

have,  in  former  Periods,  occupied  our  Planet,  afford  in  their 
fossil  remains,  the  same  evidences  of  contrivance  and  design 
that  have  been  shown  by  Ray,  Derham,  and  Paley,  to  per- 
vade the  structure  of  existing  Genera  and  species  of  orga- 
nized Beings. 

From  the  high  preservation  in  which  we  find  the  remains 
of  animals  and  vegetables  of  each  geological  formation,  and 
the  exquisite  mechanism  which  appears  in  many  fossil  frag- 
ments of  their  organization,  we  may  collect  an  infinity  of 
arguments,  to  show  that  the  creatures  from  which  all  these 
are  derived  were  constructed  with  a  view  to  the  varying 
conditions  of  the  surface  of  the  Earth,  and  to  its  gradually 
increasing  capabilities  of  sustaining  more  complex  forms  of 
organic  life,  advancing  through  successive  stages  of  perfec- 
tion.* 

*  When  we  speak  of  different  forms  of  animal  life,  as  possessing'  various 
degrees  of  perfection,  wc  do  not  impute  to  any  creature  the  presence  of  ab- 
solute imperfection,  we  mean  only,  that  animals  of  more  simple  structure 
discharge  a  lower  office  in  the  gradually  descending  scale  of  animated  beings 
All  perfection  has  relation  to  the  object  proposed  to  be  attained  by  each 
form  of  organization  that  occurs  in  nature,  and  nothing  can  be  called 
imperfect  which  fully  accomplishes  the  end  proposed  :  thus,  a  Polype,  or 
an  Oyster,  are  as  perfectly  adapted  to  their  fimctions  at  the  bottom  of  the 
sea,  as  the  wings  of  the  Eagle  are  perfect,  as  organs  of  rapid  passage 
through  the  air,  and  the  feet  of  the  stag  perfect,  in  regard  to  their  functions 
of  affecting  swift  locomotion  upon  the  land. 

Unusual  deviations  from  ordinary  structure  appear  monstrosities  only, 
until  considered  with  reference  to  their  peculiar  use,  but  are  proved  to 
be  instruments  of  perfect  contrivance,  when  we  understand  the  nature 
of  the  service  to  which  they  are  applied  :  thus  ;  the  beak  of  the  Cross 
Bill  (Loxia  curvirostra,  Linn.)  would  be  an  awkward  instrument  if  ap- 
plied to  the  ordinary  service  of  the  beaks  of  the  Passercne  Order,  to 
which  this  bird  belongs;  but  viewed  in  relation  to  its  peculiar  function  of 
extracting  seeds  from  between  the  indurated  scales  of  Fir  cones,  it  is  at 
once  seen  to  be  an  instrument  of  perfect  adaptation  to  its  intended 
work. 

The  Perfection  of  an  organized  Body  is  usually  considered  to  be  in  pro- 
portion to  the  Variety  and  compound  Nature  of  its  parts,  as  the  imperfection 
'^  usually  considered  to  be  in  the  Ratio  of  its  Simplicity, 


THEIR  IMPORTANCE  DULY  APPRECIATED.  91 

Few  facts  are  more  remarkable  in  the  history  of  the  pro- 
gress of  human  discovery,  than  that  it  should  have  been  re- 
served almost  entirely  for  the  researches  of  the  present  ge- 
neration, to  arrive  at  any  certain  knowledge  of  the  existence 
of  the  numerous  extinct  races  of  animals,  which  occupied 
the  surface  of  our  planet  in  ages  preceding  the  creation  of 
man.  The  rapid  progress  which,  during  the  last  half  cen- 
tuiy,  has  been  made  in  the  physical  sciences,  enables  us 
now  to  enter  into  the  history  of  Fossil  Organic  Remains,  in 
a  manner  which  till  within  a  very  few  years,  would  have 
been  quite  impracticable ;  during  these  years  the  anatomy 
of  extinct  species  of  Quadrupeds  has  been  most  extensively 
investigated,  and  the  greatest  of  comparative  anatomists  has 
devoted  much  of  his  time  and  talent  to  iUustrate  their  orga- 
nization. Similar  inquiries  have  been  carried  on  also  by  a 
host  of  other  enhghtened  and  laborious  individuals,  conduct- 
ing independent  researches  in  various  countries  since  the 
commencement  of  the  present  century ;  hence  our  know- 
ledge of  the  osteology  of  a  large  number  of  extinct  genera 
and  species,  now  rests  on  nearly  the  same  foundation,  and 
is  established  with  scarcely  less  certainty,  than  the  anatomi- 
cal details  of  those  creatures  that  present  their  Uving  bodies 
to  our  examination. 

We  can  hardly  imagine  any  stronger  proof  of  the  Unity 
of  Design  and  Harmony  of  Organizations  that  have  ever 
pervaded  all  animated  nature,  than  we  find  in  the  fact 
established  by  Cuvier,  that  from  the  character  of  a  single 
limb,  and  even  of  a  single  tooth  or  bone,  the  form  and  pro- 
portions of  the  other  bones,  and  condition  of  the  entire 
Animal  may  be  inferred.  This  law  prevails,  no  less  uni- 
versally, throughout  the  existing  kingdoms  of  animated 
nature,  than  in  those  various  races  of  extinct  creatures  that 
have  preceded  the  present  tenants  of  our  planet ;  hence  not 
only  the  frame  work  of  the  fossil  skeleton  of  an  extinct 
animal,  but  also  the  character  of  the  muscles,  by  which 
each  bone  was  moved,  the  external  form  and  figure  of  the 


92  ORGANIC  REMAINS. 

body,  the  food  and  habits,  and  haunts,  and  mode  of  Hfe  of 
creatures  that  ceased  to  exist  before  the  creation  of  the 
human  race,  can  with  a  high  degree  of  probability  be  as- 
certained. 

Concurrent  with  this  rapid  extension  of  our  knowledge  of 
the  comparative  anatomy  of  extinct  families  of  the  ancient 
inhabitants  of  the  earth,  has  been  the  attention  paid  to  fossil 
Conchology ;  a  subject  of  vast  importance  in  investigating 
the  records  of  the  changes  that  have  occurred  upon  the  sur- 
face of  our  globe. 

Still  more  recently,  the  study  of  botanists  has  been  direct- 
ed to  the  History  of  fossil  vegetables  ;  and  although  from 
the  late  hour  at  which  this  subject  has  been  taken  up,  our 
knowledge  of  fossil  plants  is  much  in  arrear  of  the  progress 
made  in  Anatomy  and  Conchology,  we  have  already  a  mass 
of  most  important  evidence,  showing  the  occurrence  of  a 
series  of  changes  in  vegetable  hfe,  coextensive  and  contem- 
poraneous with  those  that  have  pervaded  both  the  higher 
and  lower  orders  of  the  animal  kingdom. 

The  study  of  Organic  Remains,  indeed,  forms  the  pecu- 
liar feature  and  basis  of  modern  Geology,  and  is  the  main 
cause  of  the  progress  this  science  has  made,  since  the 
commencement  of  the  present  century.  We  find  certain 
families  of  Organic  Remains  pervading  strata  of  every  age, 
under  ^nearly  the  same  generic  forms  which  they  present 
among  existing  organizations.*  Other  families,  both  of 
animals  and  vegetables,  are  limited  to  particular  formations, 
there  being  certain  points  where  entire  groups  ceased  to 
exist,  and  were  replaced  by  others  of  a  different  character. 
The  changes  of  genera  and  species  are  still  more  frequent;, 
hence,  it  has  been  well  observed,  that  to  attempt  an  inves- 
tigation of  the  structure  and  revolutions  of  the  earth,  with- 
out applying  minute  attention  to  the  evidences  afforded  by. 

*  E.  g.   The  Nautilus,  Echinus,  Tcrcbratuia,  and  various  forms  of  Corals;-, 
and  among;  Plants,  the  Ferns,  Lycopodiacc?e,  and  Palms, 


STUDY  OF  THEM  INDISPENSABLE.  93 

organic  remains,  would  be  no  less  absurd  than  to  undertake 
to  write  the  history  of  any  ancient  people,^without  reference 
to  the  documents  afforded  by  their  medals  and  inscriptions, 
their  monuments,  and  the  ruins  of  their  cities  and  temples. 
The  study  of  Zoology  and  Botany  has  therefore  become  as 
indispensable  to  the  progress  of  Geology,  as  a  knowledge 
of  Mineralogy.  Indeed  the  mineral  character  of  the  inor- 
ganic matter  of  which  the  Earth's  strata  are  composed, 
presents  so  similar  a  succession  of  beds  of  sandstone,  clay, 
and  limestone,  repeated  irregularly,  not  only  in  diflerent, 
but  even  in  the  same  formations,*  that  similarity  of  mineral 
composition  is  but  an  uncertain  proof  of  contemporaneous 
origin,  while  the  surest  test  of  identity  of  time  is  afforded  by 
the  correspondence  of  the  organic  remains :  in  fact  without 
these,  the  proofs  of  the  lapse  of  such  long  periods  as  Geo- 
logy shows  to  have  been  occupied  in  the  formation  of  the 
strata  of  the  Earth,  would  have  been  comparatively  few 
and  indecisive. 

The  secrets  of  Nature,  that  are  revealed  to  us,  by  the 
history  of  fossil  Organic  Remains,  from  perhaps  the  most 
striking  results  at  which  we  arrive  from  the  study  of  Geo- 
logy. It  must  appear  almost  incredible  to  those  who  have 
not  minutely  attended  to  natural  phenomena,  that  the  micro- 
scopic examination  of  a  mass  of  rude  and  lifeless  limestone 
should  often  disclose  the  curious  fact,  that  large  proportions 
of  its  substance  have  once  formed  parts  of  living  bodies. 
It  is  surprising  to  consider  that  the  walls  of  our  houses  are 
sometimes  composed  of  Httle  else  than  comminuted  shells, 
that  were  once  the  domicile  of  other  animals,  at  the  bottom 
of  ancient  seas  and  lakes. 

It  is  marvellous  that  mankind  should  have  gone  on  for 

*  The  same  formation  which  in  England  constitutes  the  argillaceous  de- 
posites  of  the  London  Clay,  presents  at  Paris  the  sand  and  freestone  of  the 
Calcaire  Grossicr  ;  whilst  the  resemblance  of  their  Organic  remains  proves 
the  period  of  their  deposition  to  have  been  the  same,  notwithstanding  the 
difference  in  the  character  of  their  mineral  ingredients. 


94  ORGANIC  REMAINS. 

SO  many  centuries  in  ignorance  of  the  fact,  which  is  now 
so  fully  demonstrated,  that  no  small  part  of  the  present 
surface  of  the  earth  is  derived  from  the  remains  of  animals, 
that  constituted  the  population  of  ancient  seas.  Many  ex- 
tensive plains  and  massive  mountains  form,  as  it  were,  the 
great  charnel-houses  of  preceding  generations,' in  which  the 
petrified  exuvia3  of  extinct  races  of  animals  and  vegetables 
are  piled  into  stupendous  monuments  of  the  operations  of 
life  and  death,  during  almost  immeasurable  periods  of  past 
time.  "  At  the  sight  of  a  spectacle,"  says  Cuvier,*  "  so  im- 
posing, so  terrible  as  that  of  the  wreck  of  animal  life,  form- 
ing almost  the  entire  soil  on  which  we  tread,  it  is  difficult 
to  restrain  the  imagination  from  hazarding  some  conjec- 
tures as  to  the  causes  by  which  such  great  efiects  have  been 
produced." 

The  deeper  we  descend  into  the  strata  of  the  Earth,  the 
higher  do  we  ascend  into  the  archosological  history  of  past 
ages  of  creation.  We  find  successive  stages  marked  by 
varying  forms  of  animal  and  vegetable  life,  and  these  gene- 
rally differ  more  and  more  widely  from  existing  species,  as 
we  go  farther  downwards  into  the  receptacles  of  the  wreck 
of  more  ancient  creations. 

When  we  discover  a  constant  and  regular  assemblage  of 
organic  Remains,  commencing  with  one  series  of  strata, 
and  ending  with  another,  which  contains  a  different  assem- 
blage, we  have  herein  the  surest  grounds  whereon  to  esta- 
blish those  Divisions  which  are  called  geological  formations, 
and  we  find  many  such  Divisions  succeeding  one  another, 
when  we  investigate  the  mineral  deposites  on  the  surface  of 
the  Earth.  The  study  of  these  Remains  presents  to  the 
Zoologist  a  large  amount  of  extinct  species  and  genera, 
bearing  important  relations  to  existing  forms  of  animals  and 
vegetables,  and  often  supplying  links  that  had  hitherto  ap- 
peared deficient,  in  the  great  chain  whereby  all  animated 

*  Cuvier  rapport  sur  le  progr^s  dcs  sciences  aatorciles,  p.  119.. 


PROGRESS    OF    ANIMAL    LIFE,  95 

beings  are  held  together  in  a  series  of  near  and  gradual  con- 
nexions. 

This  discovery,  amid  the  relics  of  past  creations,  of  links 
that  seemed  wanting  in  the  present  system  of  organic  na- 
ture, affords  to  natural  Theology  an  important  argument, 
in  proving  the  unity  and  universal  agency  of  a  common 
great  first  cause  ;  since  every  individual  in  such  a  uniform 
and  closely  connected  series,  is  thus  show^n  to  be  an  integral 
part  of  one  grand  original  design. 

The  non-discovery  of  such  links  indeed,  would  form  but 
a  negative  and  feeble  argument  against  the  common  origin 
of  organic  beings,  widely  separated  from  one  another;  be- 
cause, for  aught  we  know,  the  existence  of  intervals  may 
have  formed  part  of  the  original  design  of  a  common  crea- 
tor ;  and  because  such  apparent  voids  may  perhaps  exist 
only  in  our  own  imperfect  knowledge  ;  but  the  presence  of 
such  links  throughout  all  past  and  present  modifications  of 
being,  shows  a  unity  of  design  which  proves  the  unity  of 
the  intelligence  in  which  it  originated. 

It  is  indeed  true  tiiat  animals  and  vegetables  of  the 
lower  classes  prevailed  chiefly  at  the  commencement  of 
organic  life,  but  they  did  not  prevail  exclusively ;  we  find  in 
rocks  of  the  transition  formation,  not  only  remains  of 
radiated  and  articulated  animals  and  mollusks,  such  as 
Corals,  Trilobites,  and  Nautili ;  but  we  see  the  vertebrata 
also  represented  by  the  Class  of  Fishes.  Reptiles  have 
been  found  in  some  of  the  earliest  strata  of  the  secondary 
formations.*  In  the  footsteps  on  the  New  Red  sandstone, 
we  have  probably  the  first  traces  of  Birds  and  Marsupialia. 
(See  PI.  26a.  and  26'.)  The  bones  of  Birds  occur  in  the 
Wealden  formation  of  Tilgate  forest,  and  those  of  Marsu- 
pialia in  the  Oolite  at  Stonesfield.     (See  PI.  2.  Figs.  A.  B.) 

*  E.  g.  In  the  Magnesian  Conglomerate  of  Durdham  Down  near 
Bristol,  and  in  the  bituminous  marl  slate,  (Kupferschiefer)  of  Mansfield  in 
the  Hartz. 


96'  PROOFS    OF    LONG    LAPSE    OF    TIME. 

In  the  midway  regions  of  the  secondary  strata,  are  the 
earliest  remains  yet  discovered  of  Cetacea.*  In  the  tertiary 
formations,  we  find  both  Birds,  Cetacea,  and  terrestrial 
Mammaha,  some  referable  to  existing  genera,  and  all  to 
existing  orders.     See  PI.  1,  fig.  73 — 101. 

Thus  it  appears,  that  the  more  perfect  forms  of  animals 
become  gradually  more  abundant,  as  we  advance  from  the 
older  into  the  newer  series  of  depositions :  whilst  the  more 
simple  orders,  though  often  changed  in  genus  and  species, 
and  sometimes  losing  whole  families  which  are  replaced  by 
new  ones,  have  pervaded  the  entire  range  of  fossiliferous 
formations. 

The  most  prolific  source  of  organic  remains  has  been  the 
accumulation  of  the  shelly  coverings  of  animals  which  occu- 
pied the  bottom  of  the  sea  during  a  long  series  of  consecu- 
tive generations.  A  large  proportion  of  the  entire  substance 
of  many  strata  is  composed  of  myriads  of  these  shells  re- 
duced to  a  comminuted  state  by  the  long  continued  move- 
ments of  water.  In  other  strata,  the  presence  of  countless 
multitudes  of  unbroken  corallines,  and  of  fragile  shells, 
having  their  most  deUcate  spines,  still  attached  and  undis- 
turbed, shows  that  the  animals  which  formed  them,  Hved 
and  died  upon  or  near  the  spot  where  these  remains  are 
found. 

Strata  thus  loaded  with  the  exuviae  of  innumerable  gene- 
rations of  organic  beings,  afford  strong  proof  of  the  lapse  of 
long  periods  of  time,  wherein  the  animals  from  which  they 
have  been  derived,  lived  and  multiplied  and  died,  at  the 
bottom  of  seas  which  once  occupied  the  site  of  our  present 
continents  and  islands.  Repeated  changes  in  species,  both 
of  animals  and  vegetables,  in  succeeding  members  of  diffe- 

*  There  is,  in  the  Oxford  Museum,  an  ulna  from  the  great  Oolite  of 
Enstone  near  Woodstock,  Oxen,  which  was  examined  by  Cuvier,  and  pro- 
nounced to  be  cetaceous ;  and  also  a  portion  of  a  very  large  rib,  apparently 
of  a  whale,  from  the  same  locality. 


MK3R0SC0PIC  CHAMBERED  SHELLS.  97 

rent  formations,  give  farther  evidence  not  only  of  the  lapse 
of  time,  but  also  of  important  changes  in  the  physical  con- 
dition and  climate  of  the  ancient  earth. 

Besides  these  more  obvious  remains  of  Testacea  and  of 
larger  animals,  minute  examination  discloses  occasionally 
prodigious  accumulations  of  microscopic  shells  that  surprise 
us  no  less  by  their  abundance  than  their  extreme  minute- 
ness ;  the  mode  in  which  they  are  sometimes  crowded  toge- 
ther, may  be  estimated  from  the  fact  that  Soldani  collected 
from  less  than  an  ounce  and  a  half  of  stone  found  in  the 
hills  of  Casciana,  in  Tuscany,  10,454  microscopic  chambered 
shells.  The  rest  of  the  stone  was  composed  of  fragments 
of  shells,  of  minute  spines  of  Echini,  and  of  a  sparry  calca- 
reous matter. 

Of  several  species  of  these  shells,  four  or  five  hundred 
weigh  but  a  single  grain ;  of  one  species  he  calculates  that 
a  thousand  individuals  would  scarcely  weigh  one  grain. 
<Saggio  Orjttografico,  1780,  pag.  103,  Tab.  III.  fig.  22.  H. 
1,)  He  farther  slates  that  some  idea  of  their  diminutive  size 
may  be  formed  from  the  circumstance  that  immense  num- 
bers of  them  pass  through  a  paper  in  which  holes  have  been 
pricked  with  a  needle  of  the  smallest  size. 

Our  mental,  hke  our  visual  faculties,  begin  rapidly  to  fail 
us  when  we  attempt  to  comprehend  the  infinity  of  littleness 
towards  which  we  are  thus  conducted,  on  approaching  the 
smaller  extremes  of  creation. 

Similar  accumulations  of  microscopic  shells  have  been 
observed  also  in  various  sedimentary  deposites  of  fresh-wa- 
ter formation.  A  striking  example  of  this  kind  is  found  in  the 
abundant  diffusion  of  the  remains  of  a  microscopic  crusta- 
ceous  animal  of  the  genus  Cypris.  Animals  of  this  genus 
are  enclosed  within  two  flat  valves,  like  those  of  a  bivalve 
shell,  and  now  inhabit  the  waters  of  lakes  and  marshes. 
Certain  clay  beds  of  the  Wealden  formation  below  the 
chalk,  are  so  abundantly  charged  with  microscopic  shells 
of  the  Cypris  Faba,  that  the  surfaces  of  many  laminse  into 

VOL.  I. — 9 


/ 

98  MICROSCOPIC  SHELLS  OE  CYPRIS. 

which  this  clay  is  easily  divided,  are  often  entirely  covered 
with  them  as  with  small  seeds.  The  same  shells  occur  also 
in  the  Hastings  sand  and  sandstone,  in  the  Sussex  marble, 
and  in  the  Purbeck  limestone,  all  of  which  were  deposited 
during  the  same  geological  epoch  in  an  ancient  lake  or 
estuary,  wherein  strata  of  this  formation  have  been  accu- 
mulated to  the  thickness  of  nearly  1000  feet.  (See  Dr. 
Fitton's  Geol.  sketch  of  Hastings,  1833,  p.  68.) 

We  have  similar  evidence  of  the  long  duration  of  time, 
in  another  series  of  Lacustrine  formations,  more  recent  than 
the  chalk,  viz.  in  the  great  fresh-water  deposites  of  the  ter- 
tiary period  in  central  France;  here  the  district  of  Auvergne 
presents  an  area  of  twenty  miles  in  width,  and  eighty  miles 
in  length,  within  which  strata  of  gravel,  sand,  clay,  and 
limestone  have  been  accumulated  by  the  operations  of  fresh- 
water, to  the  thickness  of  at  least  seven  hundred  feet.  Mr. 
Lyell,  in  his  Principles  of  Geology,  3d  edit.  vol.  iv.  p.  98, 
states  that  the  foliated  character  of  many  of  the  marly 
beds  of  this  formation  is  due  to  the  presence  of  countless 
myriads  of  similar  exuvias  of  the  Cypris  which  give  rise  to 
divisions  in  the  marl  as  thin  as  paper.  Taking  this  fact  in 
conjunction  with  the  habit  of  these  animals  to  moult  and 
change  their  skin  annually,  together  with  their  shell,  he 
justly  observes  that  a  more  convincing  proof  of  the  tran- 
quillity of  the  waters,  and  of  the  slow  and  gradual  process 
by  which  the  lake  was  filled  up  with  fine  mud  cannot  be  de- 
sired. 

Another  proof  of  the  length  of  time  that  must  have  elapsed 
during  the  deposition  of  these  tertiary  fresh-water  forma- 
tions in  Auvergne,  is  afibrded  near  Cleremont  by  the  occur- 
rence of  beds  of  limestone,  several  feet  in  thickness,  almost 
wholly  made  up  of  the  fossil  Indusisc,  or  Caddis-like  cover- 
ings, resembling  the  cases  that  enclose  the  larvae  of  our 
common  May-fly. 

Mr.  Lyell  states  that  a  single  individual  of  these  Indusiae 
is  often  surrounded  by  no  less  than  a  hundred  minute  shells 


FOSSIL  INDUSI^.  99 

of  a  small  spiral  univalve,  (Paludina  viridis,)  fixed  to  the 
outside  of  this  tubular  case  of  a  larva  of  the  genus  Phry- 
ganea.  See  Lyell's  Principles  of  Geology,  3d  edit.  vol.  iv. 
p.  100.  It  is  impossible  to  conceive  how  strata  like  these, 
extended  over  large  tracts  of  country,  and  laid  one  above 
another,  with  beds  of  naarl  and  clay  between  them,  should 
have  contained  the  coverings  of  such  multitudes  of  aquatic 
animals,  by  any  other  process  than  that  of  gradual  accumu- 
lation during  a  long  series  of  years. 

In  the  case  of  deposites  formed  in  estuaries,  the  admixture 
and  alternation  of  the  remains  of  fluviatile  and  lacustrine 
shells  with  marine  Exuvia?,  indicate  conditions  analogous 
to  those  under  which  we  observe  the  inhabitants  both 
of  the  sea  and  rivers  existing  together  in  brackish  water 
near  the  Deltas  of  the  Nile,*  and  other  great  rivers.  Thus, 
we  find  a  stratum  of  oyster  shells,  that  indicate  the  presence 
either  of  salt  or  of  brackish  water,  interposed  between  lime- 
stone strata  filled  with  fresh-water  shells  among  the  Purbeck 
formations ;  so  also  in  the  sands  and  clays  of  the  Wealden 
formation  of  Tilgate  forest,  we  have  fresh-water  and  lacus- 
trine shells  intermixed  with  remains  of  large  terrestrial  rep- 
tiles, e.  g.  Megalosaurus,  Iguanodon,  and  Hylasosaurus ; 
with  these  we  find  also  the  bones  of  the  marine  reptiles 
Plesiosaurus,  and  from  this  admixture  we  infer  that  the 
former  were  drifted  from  the  land  into  an  estuary  which 
the  Plesiosaurus  also  having  entered  from  the  sea,  left  its 
bones  in  this  common  receptacle  of  the  animal  and  mineral 
exuviae  of  some  not  far  distant  land.f 

Another  condition  of  organic  remains  is  that  of  which  a 
well  known  example  occurs  in  the  oolitic  slate  of  Stones- 
field,  near  Oxford.     At  this  place  a  single  bed  of  calcareous 

*  See  Maddcu's  Travels  in  Egypt,  vol.  ii.  p.  171.175. 

+  For  the  detailed  iiistory  of  the  organic  remains  of  the  Wealden  forma- 
tion, see  Mr.  Maiilell's  highly  instructive  and  accurate  volumes  on  the  geo- 
logy of  Sussex. 


100  DEFOSITES  IN  ESTUARIES. 

and  sandy  slate  not  six  feet  thick,  contains  an  admixture  of 
terrestrial  animals  and  plants  with  shells  that  are  decidedly- 
marine;  the  bones  of  Didelphys,  Megalosaurus,  and  Ptero- 
dactyle  are  so  mixed  with  Ammonites,  Nautili,  and  Belem- 
nites,  and  many  other  species  of  marine  shells,  that  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that  this  formation  was  deposited  at  the 
bottom  of  the  sea  not  far  distant  from  some  ancient  shore. 
We  may  account  for  the  presence  of  remains  of  terrestrial 
animals  in  such  a  situation  by  supposing  their  carcasses  to 
have  been  floated  from  land  at  no  great  distance  from  their 
place  of  submarine  interment. 

A  similar  explanation  may  be  given  of  the  mixture  of  the 
bones  of  large  terrestrial  mammalia  with  marine  shells,  in 
the  Miocene  Tertiary  formations  of  Touraine,  and  in  the 
Crag  of  Norfolk. 

Cases  of  Animals  destroyed  suddenly^ 

The  cases  hitherto  examined,  are  examples  of  the  pro- 
cesses of  slow  and  gradual  accumulations  in  which  are  pre- 
served the  remains  of  marine,  lacustrine,  and  terrestriial 
animals  that  perished  daring  extended  periods  of  time,  by 
natural  death.  It  remains  to  state  that  other  causes  seem 
to  have  operated  occasionally,  and  at  distant  intervals,  to 
produce  a  rapid  accumulation  of  certain  strata,  accom- 
panied by  the  sudden  destruction,  not  only  of  testacea,  but 
also  of  the  higher  classes  of  the  then  existing  inhabitants  of 
the  seas.  We  have  analogous  instances  of  sudden  destruc- 
tion operating  locally  at  the  present  time,  in  the  case  of 
fishes  that  perish  from  an  excessive  admixture  of  mud  with 
the  water  of  the  sea,  during  extraordinary  tempests;  and 
also  from  the  sudden  imparting  of  heat,  and  noxious  gases, 
to  water  in  immediate  contact  with  the  site  of  submarine 
volcanoes.  A  sudden  irruption  of  salt  water  into  lakes  or 
estuaries,  previously  occupied  by  fresh-water,  or  the  sudden 
occupation  of  a  portion  of  the  sea,  by  an  immense  body  of 


FISHES  OF  MONTE  BOLEA  AND  NAPLES.  101 

fresh-water  from  a  bursting  lake,  or  unusual  land  flood,  is 
often  fatal  to  large  numbers  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  waters 
thus  respectively  interchanged.* 

The  greater  number  of  fossil  fishes  present  no  appearance 
of  having  perished  by  mechanical  violence ;  they  seem 
rather  to  have  been  destroyed  by  some  noxious  qualities 
imparted  to  the  waters  in  which  they  moved;  either  by 
sudden  change  of  temperature,!  or  an  admixture  of  carbonic 
acid,  or  sulphuretted  hydrogen  gas,  or  of  bituminous  or 
earthy  matter  in  the  form  of  mud. 

The  circumstances  under  which  the  fossil  fishes  are  found 
at  Monte  Bolca  seem  to  indicate  that  they  perished  suddenly 
on  arriving  at  a  part  of  the  then  existing  seas,  which  was 
rendered  noxious  by  the  volcanic  agency,  of  which  the  ad- 
jacent basaltic  rocks  afford  abundant  evidence.  The  skele- 
tons of  these  fish  He  parallel  to  the  lamina?  of  the  strata  of 
the  calcareous  slate;  they  are  always  entire,  and  so  closely 
packed  on  one  another,  that  many  individuals  are  often 
contained  in  a  single  block.  The  thousands  of  specimens 
which  are  dispersed  over  the  cabinets  of  Europe,  have 
nearly  all  been  taken  from  one  quarry.  All  these  fishes 
must  have  died  suddenly  on  this  fatal  spot,  and  have  been 
speedily  buried  in  the  calcareous  sediment  then  in  the  course 
of  deposition.  From  the  fact  that  certain  individuals  have 
even  preserved  traces  of  colour  upon  their  skin,  we  are  cer- 
tain that  they  were  entombed  before  decomposition  of  their 
soft  parts  had  taken  place.J 

*  See  account  of  the  effects  of  an  irruption  of  the  sea  intol'oe  fresh-water 
of  the  lake  of  Lovvestoffo,  on  the  coast  of  Suffolk.  Ediiiburg  Philosophical 
Journal,  No.  25,  p.  37:2. 

t  M.  Agassiz  has  observed  that  a  sudden  depression  to  the  amount  of  15° 
of  the  temperature  of  liie  water  in  the  river  Glat,  wliich  falls  into  the  lake 
of  Zurich,  caused  the  immediate  death  of  thousands  of  Barbel. 

t  The  celebrated  fish  (Biochius  longirostris)  from  this  quarry,  described 
as  petrified  in  the  act  of  swallowing  another  fish  (Ilhiolitologia  Veronese, 
Tab.  XII.)  has  been  ascertained  by  M.  Agassiz  to  be  a  deception,  arising 
•from  the  accidental  juxta-position  of  two  fithes.     The  size  of  the  head  oftb« 

9* 


102  ANIMALS  SPEEDILY  BURIED. 

The  fishes  of  Torre  d'Orlando,  in  the  Bay  of  Naples^ 
near  Castelamare,  seem  also  to  have  perished  suddenly 
M.  Agassiz  finds  that  the  countless  individuals  which  occur 
there  in  Jurassic  limestone,  all  belong  to  a  single  species,  the 
Pyenodus  rhombus.  Tetragonolepis.  An  entire  shoal  seems 
to  have  been  destroyed  at  once,  at  a  pface  where  the  waters 
were  either  contaminated  with  some  noxious  impregnation, 
or  overcharged  with  heat.* 

In  the  same  manner  also,  we  may  imagine  deposites  from 
muddy  w^ater,  mixed  perhaps  with  noxious  gases,  to  have 
formed  by  their  sediments  a  succession  of  thick  beds  of  marl 
and  clay,  such  as  those  of  the  Lias  formation ;  and  at  the 
same  time  to  have  destroyed,  not  only  the  Testacea  and 
lower  orders  of  animals  inhabiting  the  bottom,  but  also  the 
higher  orders  of  marine  creatures  within  the  regions  thus 
invaded.  Evidence  of  the  fact  of  vast  numbers  of  fishes 
and  saurians  having  met  with  sudden  death  and  immediate 
burial,  is  also  afforded  by  the  stale  of  entire  preservation  in 
which  the  bodies  of  hundreds  of  them  are  often  found  in  the 
Lias.  It  sometimes  happens  that  scarcely  a  single  bone,  or 
scale,  has  been  removed  from  the  place  it  occupied  during 
life ;  this  condition  could  not  possibly  have  been  retained, 
had  the  uncovered  bodies  of  these  animals  been  left,  even 
for  a  few  hours,  exposed  to  putrefaction,  and  to  the  attacks 
of  fishes  and  other  smaller  animals  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea.f 

smaller  fish  supposed  to  be  swallowed,  in  such  as  never  could  have  entered 
the  diminutive  stomach  of  the  putative  glutton  ;  moreover  it  decs  not  enter 
within  the  margin  ot  its  javvp. 

*  Tiie  proximity  of  Vina  rock  to  t!ie  Vesuvian  cliain  of  volcanic  eruptions, 
offers  a  cause  sufficient  lo  have  imparted  eitlicr  of  these  destructive  powers 
to  the  Waters  of  a  limited  space  in  the  bay  of  Naples,  at  a  period  preceding 
those  intense  volcanic  actions  whicli  prevailed  in  ihis  district  during  the 
deposition  of  tlie  Tertiary  strata,  and  which  are  still  going  on  there. 

t  Although  it  appears  from  the  preservation  of  these  animals,  tliat  certain 
parts  of  the  Lias  were  deposited  rapidly,  there  arc  also  proofs  of  the  lapse 
of  much  time  during  tlic  deposition  of  other  parts  of  this  formation.  See, 
IMotcs  in  future  Chapters  on  Coprolitcs  and  fossil  Loligo. 


PISHES  IN  THE  HAR.TZ.  109 

Another  celebrated  deposite  of  fossil  fishes  is  that  of  the 
cupriferous  slate  surrounding  the  Hartz.  Many  of  the  fishes 
of  this  slate  at  Mansfeldt,  Eiselebon,  &c.,  have  a  distorted 
attitude,  which  has  often  been  assigned  to  writhing  in  the 
agonies  of  death.  The  true  origin  of  this  condition,  is  the 
unequal  contraction  of  the  muscular  fibres,  which  causes 
fish  and  other  animals  to  become  stiff  during  a  short  interval 
between  death  and  the  flaccid  state  preceding  decomposition. 
As  these  fossil  fishes  maintain  the  altitude  of  the  rigid  stage 
immediately  succeeding  death,  it  follows  that  they  were 
buried  before  putrefaction  had  commenced,  and  apparently 
in  the  same  bituminous  mud,  the  influx  of  which  had  caused 
their  destruction.  The  dissemination  of  Copper  and  Bitu- 
men through  the  slate  that  contains  so  many  perfect  fishes 
around  the  Hartz,  seems  to  offer  two  other  causes,  either  of 
which  may  have  produced  their  sudden  death.* 

From  what  has  been  said  respecting  the  general  history 
of  fossil  organic  Ucmains,  it  appears  that  not  only  the  relics 
of  aquatic,  but  also  those  of  terrestrial  animals  and  plants, 
are  found  almost  exclusively  in  strata  that  have  been  accu- 
mulated by  the  action  of  water.  This  circumstance  is 
readily  explained,  when  we  consider  that  the  bones  of  all 
dead  creatures  that  may  be  left  uncovered  upon  dry  land, 
are  in  a  few  years  entirely  destroyed  by  various  animals 
and  the  decomposing  influence  of  the  atmosphere.     If  we 

•  UikIpi'  tlie  turbulent  conditions  of  our  plnnct,  wliiist  stratification  was 
in  progress,  tiie  activity  of  volcanic  agents,  then  frequent  and  intense,  was 
probably  att.enckd  also  witli  aimospheric  disturbances  affecting-  botli  tlie  air 
and  water,  and  producing  the  sanne  fatality  among-  the  then  existing  Tribes 
of  fishes,  that  is  now  observed  to  result  from  sudden  and  violent  changes  ia 
the  electric  condition  of  the  atmosphere.  M.  Agassiz  has  observed  that  ra- 
pid changes  in  the  degree  of  atmospheric  pressure  upon  the  water,  affect 
the  air  witliin  the  swimming  bladders  of  fishes,  sometimes  causing  t'lem  to 
be  distended  to  a  fatal  degree,  and  even  to  burst.  MultiUides  of  dead  fisiies, 
that  have  thus  perished  during  tempests,  are  often  seen  floating  on  the  suJ"- 
lace,  and  cast  on  the  shores  of  the  lakes  of  Switzerland. 


104  ORGANIC  REMAINS  PRESERVED. 

except  the  few  bones  that  may  have  been  collected  in  caves, 
or  buiied  under  land  slips,  or  the  products  of  volcanic  erup- 
tions, or  in  sand  drifted  by  the  winds,*  it  is  only  in  strata 
formed  by  water  that  any  remains  of  land  animals  can  have 
been  preserved. 

We  continually  see  the  carcasses  of  such  animals  drifted 
by  rivers  in  their  seasons  of  flood,  into  lakes,  estuaries,  and 
seas;  and  although  it  may  at  first  seem  strange  to  find  ter- 
restrial remains,  imbedded  in  strata  formed  at  the  bottom  of 
the  water,  the  difficulty  vanishes  on  recollection  that  the 
materials  of  stratified  rocks  are  derived  in  great  part  from 
the  Detritus  of  more  ancient  lands.  As  the  forces  of  rains, 
torrents,  and  inundations  have  conveyed  this  detritus  into 
lakes,  estuaries,  and  seas,  it  is  probable  that  many  carcasses 
of  terrestrial  and  amphibious  animals,  should  also  have  been 
drifted  to  great  distances   by  currents  which  swept   such 

*  Captain  Lyon  states,  that  in  the  deserts  of  Africa,  the  bodies  of  camels 
are  often  dessiccated  by  the  heat  and  dryness  of  the  atmospliere,  and  become 
the  nucleus  of  a  sandhill,  which  tlie  wind  accumulates  around  them.  Be- 
neath this  sand  they  remain  interred  like  the  stumps  of  palm  trees,  and  the 
building's  cf  ancient  Eg-ypt. 

In  a  recent  paper  on  tlie  g'eology  of  the  Bermudas  (Proceedings  of  Geol. 
Soc.  Lond.  Ap.  9,  1834,)  Lieutenant  Nelson  describes  these  islands  as  com- 
posed of  calcareous  s;uid  and  limestone,  derived  from  comminuted  siielb 
and  corals;. he  considers  greut  part  of  the  materials  of  these  strata  to  have 
been  drifted  up  from  the  shore  by  tlie  action  of  the  wind.  Tlie  surface  in 
many  parts  is  composed  of  loose  sand,  disposed  in  all  the  irregular  forms  of 
drifted  snow,  and  presents  a  surface  covered  with  undulations  like  those 
produced  by  the  ripple  of  water  upon  sand  on  the  sea-sliore.  Recent  sliells 
occur  both  in  the  loose  sand  and  solid  limestone,  and  also  roots  of  the  Pal- 
metto now  growing  in  the  island.  The  N.  W.  coast  of  Cornwall  affords  ex- 
amples of  similar  invasions  of  many  thousand  acres  of  land  by  Deluges  of 
»and  drifted  from  the  sea-shore,  at  the  villages  of  Bude  and  Perran  Zabulo; 
the  latter  village  has  been  twice  destroyed,  and  buried  under  sand,  drifted 
inland  during  extraordinary  tempests,  at  distant  intervals  of  time.  See 
Trans,  of  Geol.  Soc.  of  Cornwall,  vol.  ii.  p.  140,  and  vol.  iii.  p.  12.  See  also 
De  la  Beche's  Geological  Manual,  3d  edit.  p.  84,  and  Jameson's  Translation 
of  Cuvier's  Theory  of  the  earlh,  5lh  edit.     Note  G. 


IMPORTANCE    OF    OEGANIC    REMAINS,    EOT.  105 

enormous  quantities  of  abraded  matter  from  the  lands ;  and 
accordingly  we  find,  that  strata  of  aqueous  formation  have 
become  the  common  repository  not  only  of  the  Remains  of 
aquatic,  but  also  of  terrestrial  animals  and  vegetables. 

The  study  of  these  Remains  will  form  our  most  interesting 
and  instructive  subject  of  inquiry,  since  it  is  in  them  that  we 
shall  find  the  great  master-key  whereby  we  may  unlock  the 
secret  history  of  the  earth.  They  are  documents  which 
contain  the  evidences  of  revolutions  and  catastrophes,  long 
antecedent  to  the  creation  of  the  human  race;  they  open 
the  book  of  nature,  and  swell  the  volumes  of  science,  with 
the  Records  of  many  successive  series  of  animal  and  vege- 
table generations,  of  which  the  Creation  and  Extinction 
would  have  been  equally  unknown  to  us,  but  for  recent  dis- 
coveries in  the  science  of  Geology. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Aggregate  of  Animal  Enjoyment  increased,  and  that  of  Pain 
diminished,  by  the  existence  of  Carnivorous  Races. 

Before  we  proceed  to  consider  the  evidences  of  design, 
discoverable  in  the  structure  of  the  extinct  carnivorous  races, 
which  inhabited  our  planet  during  former  periods  of  its  his- 
tory ;  we  may  briefly  examine  the  nature  of  that  universal 
dispensation,  whereby  a  system  of  perpetual  destruction, 
followed  by  continual  renovation,  has  at  all  times  tended  to 
increase  the  aggregate  of  animal  enjoyment,  over  the  entire 
surface  of  the  terraqueous  globe. 

Some  of  the  most  important  provisions  which  will  be  pre- 
sented to  us  in  the  anatomy  of  these  ancient  animals,  are 
found  in  the  organs  with  which  they  were  furnished  for  the 


106  CARNIVOnOUS    RACES 

purpose  of  capturing  and  killing  their  prey ;  and  as  contri- 
vances exhibited  in  instruments  formed  expressly  for  destruc- 
tion may,  at  first  sight,  seem  inconsistent  with  the  dispensa- 
tions of  a  creation  founded  in  benevolence,  and  tending  to 
produce  the  greatest  amount  of  enjoyment  to  the  greatest 
number  of  individuals  ;  it  may  be  proper  to  premise  a  few 
words  upon  this  subject,  before  we  enter  on  the  history  of 
that  large  portion  of  the  animals  of  a  former  world,  whose 
office  was  to  effect  the  destruction  of  life. 

The  law  of  universal  mortality  being  the  established  con- 
dition, on  which  it  has  pleased  the  Creator  to  give  being  to 
every  creature  upon  earth,  it  is  a  dispensation  of  kindness 
to  make  the  end  of  life  to  each  individual  as  easy  as  possi- 
ble. The  most  easy  death  is,  proverbially,  that  which  is 
the  least  expected ;  and  though,  for  moral  reasons  peculiar 
to  our  own  species,  we  deprecate  the  sudden  termination  of 
our  mortal  life ;  yet,  in  the  case  of  every  inferior  animal, 
such  a  termination  of  existence  is  obviously  the  most  de- 
sirable. The  pains  of  sickness,  and  decrepitude  of  age,  are 
the  usual  precursors  of  death,  resulting  from  gradual  decay : 
these,  in  the  human  race  alone,  arc  susceptible  of  alleviation 
from  internal  sources  of  hope  and  consolation  ;  and  give  ex- 
ercise to  some  of  the  highest  charities,  and  most  tender  sym- 
pathies of  humanity.  But,  throughout  the  whole  creation  of 
inferior  animals,  no  such  sympathies  exist ;  there  is  no  af- 
fection or  regard  for  the  feeble  and  aged ;  no  alleviating 
care  to  I'clieve  the  sick ;  and  the  extension  of  life  through 
lingering  stages  of  decay  and  of  old  age,  would  to  each  in- 
dividual be  a  scene  of  protracted  misery.  Under  such  a 
system,  the  natural  world  would  present  a  mass  of  daily 
suffering,  bearing  a  large  proportion  to  the  total  ambunt  of 
animal  enjoyment.  By  the  existing  dispensations  of  sudden 
destruction  and  rapid  succession,  the  feebled  and  disabled 
are  speedily  relieved  from  suffering,  and  the  world  is  at  all 
times  crowded  with  myriads  of  sentient  and  happy  beings ; 
and  though  to  many  individuals  their  allotted  share  of  life  be 


BENEFICIAL  TO  THE  HERBIVOROUS.  107 

often  short,  it  is  usually  a  period  of  uninterrupted  gratifica- 
tion ;  whilst  the  momentary  pain  of  sudden  and  unexpected 
death  is  an  evil  infinitely  small,  in  comparison  with  the  en- 
joyments of  which  it  is  the  termination. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  earth  have  ever  been  divided  into 
two  great  classes,  the  one  herbivorous,  the  other  carnivo- 
rous; and  though  the  existence  of  the  latter  may,  at  first 
sight  seem  calculated  to  increase  the  amount  of  animal 
pain;  yet,  when  considered  in  its  full  extent,  it  will  be  found 
materially  to  diminish  it. 

To  tlie  mind  which  looks  not  to  general  results  in  the 
economy  of  Nature,  the  earth  may  seem  to  present  a  scene 
of  perpetual  warfare  and  incessant  carnage  :  but  the  more 
enlarged  view,  while  it  regards  individuals  in  their  conjoint 
relations  to  the  general  benefit  of  their  own  species,  and  that 
of  other  species  with  which  they  are  associated  in  the  great 
family  of  Nature,  resolves  each  apparent  case  of  individual 
evil,  into  an  example  of  subserviency  to  universal  good. 

Under  the  existing  system,  not  only  is  the  aggregate 
amount  of  animal  enjoyment  much  increased,  by  adding  to 
the  stock  of  life  all  the  races  which  are  carnivorous,  but 
these  are  also  highly  beneficial  even  to  the  herbivorous 
races,  that  are  subject  to  their  dominion. 

Besides  the  desirable  relief  of  speedy  death  on  the  ap- 
proach of  debility  or  age,  the  carnivora  confer  a  farther 
benefit  on  the  species  which  form  their  prey,  as  they  con- 
trol their  excessive  increase,  by  the  destruction  of  many  in- 
dividuals in  youth  and  health.  Without  this  solitary  check, 
each  species  would  soon  multiply  to  an  extent,  exceeding  in 
a  fatal  degree  the  supply  of  food,  and  the  whole  class  of 
herbivora  would  ever  be  so  nearlv  on  the  verire  of  starva- 
tion,  that  multitudes  would  daily  be  consigned  to  lingerin'g 
and  painful  death  by  famine.  All  these  evils  are  superseded 
by  the  establishment  of  a  controlling  Power  in  the  carni- 
vora ;  by  their  agency  the  numbers  of  each  species  are 
maintained  in  due  proportion  to  one  another — the  sick,  the 


108  CARNIVOROUS  RACES. 

lame,  the  aged,  and  the  supernumeraries,  are  consigned  to 
speedy  death ;  and  while  each  suffering  individual  is  soon 
relieved  from  pain,  it  contributes  its  enfeebled  carcass  to  the 
support  of  its  carnivorous  benefactor,  and  leaves  more  room 
for  the  comfortable  existence  of  the  healthy  survivors  of  its 
ow^n  species. 

The  same  "  police  of  Nature,"  v^'hich  is  thus  beneficial  to 
the  great  family  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  land,  is  cstabhshed 
vi'ith  equal  advantage  among  the  tenants  of  the  sea.  Of 
these  also,  there  is  one  large  division  that  lives  on  vege- 
tables, and  supplies  the  basis  of  food  to  the  other  division 
that  is  carnivorous.  Here  again  we  see,  that  in  the  absence 
of  carnivora,  the  uncontrolled  herbivora  would  multiply 
indefinitely,  until  the  lack  of  food  brought  them  also  to  the 
verge  of  starvation ;  and  the  sea  would  be  crowded  with 
creatures  under  the  endurance  of  universal  pain  from 
hunger,  while  death  by  famine  would  be  the  termination  of 
ill-fed  and  miserable  lives. 

The  appointment  of  death  by  the  agency  of  carnivora,  as 
the  ordinary  termination  of  animal  existence,  appears  there- 
fore in  its  main  results  to  be  a  dispensation  of  benevolence ; 
it  deducts  much  from  the  aggregate  amount  of  the  pain  of 
universal  death;  it  abridges,  and  almost  annihilates,  through- 
out the  brute  creation,  the  misery  of  disease,  and  accidental 
injuries,  and  lingering  decay  ;  and  imposes  such  salutary 
restraint  upon  excessive  increase  of  numbers,  that  the  sup- 
ply of  food  maintains  perpetually  a  due  ratio  to  the  demand. 
The  result  is,  that  the  surface  of  the  land  and  depths  of  the 
waters  are  ever  crowded  with  myriads  of  animated  beings, 
the  pleasures  of  whose  life  are  co-extensive  with  its  duration; 
and  which  throughout  the  little  day  of  existence  that  is 
allotted  to  them,  fulfil  with  joy  the  functions  for  which  they 
were  created.  Life  to  each  individual  is  a  scene  of  con- 
tinued feasting,  in  a  region  of  plenty  ;  and  when  unexpected 
death  arrests  its  course,  it  repays  with  small  interest  the 
large  debt,  which  it  has  contracted  to  the  common  fund  of 


FOSSIL  MAMMALIA. DINOTHERIUM.  109 

animal  nutrition,  from  whence  the  materials  of  its  body 
have  been  derived.  Thus  the  great  drama  of  universal 
life  is  perpetually  sustained ;  and  though  the  individual 
actors  undergo  continual  change,  the  same  parts  are  ever 
filled  by  another  and  another  generation  ;  renewing  the  face 
of  the  earth,  and  the  bosom  of  the  deep,  with  endless  suc- 
cessions of  life  and  happiness. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

pToofs  of  design  in  the  Structure  of  Fossil  Vertehrated 
Animals. 

SECTION  I. 

FOSSIL  MAMMALIA. DINOTHERIUM. 

Enough  has,  I  trust,  been  stated  in  the  preceding  chapter, 
to  show  the  paramount  importance  of  appealing  to  organic 
remains,  in  illustration  of  that  branch  of  physico-theology 
with  which  we  are  at  present  occupied. 

The  structure  of  the  greater  number,  even  of  the  earliest 
fossil  Mammalia,  differs  in  so  few  essential  points  from  that 
of  the  living  representatives  of  their  respective  Orders,  that 
I  forbear  to  enter  on  details  which  would  indeed  abound 
with  evidences  of  creative  design,  but  would  offer  little  that 
is  not  equally  discoverable  in  the  anatomy  of  existing 
species.  I  shall,  therefore,  limit  ray  observations  to  two 
extinct  genera,  which  are  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  of 
all  fossil  Mammalia,  for  size  and  unexampled  peculiarities 
of  anatomical  construction ;  the  first  of  these,  the  Dinothe- 

vol.  I. — 10 


110  FOSSIL  MAMMALIA. 

riuin,  having  been  the  largest  of  terrestrial  Mannmalia;*  and 
the  second,  the  Megatherium,  presenting  greater  deviations 
Irom  ordinary  animal  forms,  than  occur  in  any  other  species, 
either  of  recent  or  fossil  quadrupeds. 

It  has  been  already  stated,  in  our  account  of  the  Mam- 
malia of  the  Miocene  period  of  the  tertiary  series,  that  the 
most  abundant  remains  of  the  Dinotherium  are  found  at 
I'^pplesheim,  in  the  province  of  Hesse  Darmstadt,  and  are 
<lcscribed,  in  a  work  now  in  process  of  publication,  by  Pro- 
fessor Kaup.  Fragments  of  the  same  genus  are  mentioned 
by  Cuvier,  as  occurring  in  several  parts  of  France,  and  in 
Bavaria  and  Austria. 

.  The  form  of  the  molar  teeth  of  the  Dinotherium,  (PI.  2. 
C.  Fig.  3,)  so  nearly  resembles  that  of  the  Tapirs,  that 
Cuvier  at  first  referred  them  to  a  gigantic  species  of  this 
genus.  Professor  Kaup  has  since  placed  this  animal  in  the 
new  genus  Dinotherium,  holding  an  intermediate  place  be- 
tween the  Tapir  and  the  Mastodon,  and  supplying  another 
important  extinct  link  in  the  great  family  of  Pachydcrmata. 
The  largest  species  of  this  genus,  D.  Giganteum,  is  calcu- 
lated, both  by  Cuvier  and  Kaup,  to  have  attained  the  ex- 
traordinary length  of  eighteen  feet.  The  most  remarkable 
hone  of  the  body  yet  found  is  the  shoulder-blade,  the  form 
of  which  more  nearly  resembles  that  of  a  Mole  than  of  any 
other  animal,  and  seems  to  indicate  a  peculiar  adaptation 
of  the  fore  leg  to  the  purposes  of  digging,  an  indication 
which  is  corroborated  by  the  remarkable  structure  of  the 
lower  jaw. 

The  lower  jaws  of  two  species  of  Dinotherium,  figured 
in  Plate  2.  C.  Figs.  1.  2.  exhibit  peculiarities  in  the  disposi- 

*  Tlic  Autlior  has  recently  been  informed  by  Professor  Kaup,  of  Darm- 
etodt,  tliut  an  entire  head  of  lliis  animal  has  been  discovered  at  Epples- 
licim,  nicasurinjr  more  than  a  yard  in  length,  and  as  much  in  breadth, 
and  that  he  is  preparing  a  description  and  figures  of  this  head  for  immediate 
publication. 


DINOTHERIUM.  Ill 

tion  of  the  tusks,  such  as  are  found  in  no  other  Uving  or 
fossil  animal. 

The  form  of  the  molar  teeth,  PI.  2.  C.  Fig.  3,  approaches, 
as  we  have  stated,  most  nearly  to  that  of  the  molar  teeth  in 
Tapirs ;  but  a  remarkable  deviation  from  the  character  of 
Tapirs,  as  well  as  of  every  other  quadruped,  consists  in  the 
presence  of  two  enormous  tusks,  placed  at  the  anterior  ex- 
tremity of  the  lower  jaw,  and  curved  downwards,  like  the 
tusks  in  the  upper  jaw  of  the  Walrus.     (PL  2.  C.  1.  2.) 

I  shall  confine  my  present  remarks  to  this  peculiarity  in 
the  position  of  the  tusks,  and  endeavour  to  show  how  far 
these  organs  illustrate  the  habits  of  the  extinct  animals  in 
which  they  are  found.  It  is  mechanically  impossible  that  a 
lower  jaw,  nearly  four  feet  long,  loaded  with  such  heavy 
tusks  at  its  extremity,  could  have  been  otherwise  than  cum- 
brous and  inconvenient  to  a  quadruped  living  on  dry  land. 
No  such  disadvantage  would  have  attended  this  structure  in 
a  large  animal  destined  to  live  in  water ;  and  the  aquatic 
habits  of  the  family  of  Tapirs,  to  which  the  Dinotherium 
was  most  nearly  allied,  render  it  probable  that,  like  them,  it 
was  an  inhabitant  of  fresh-water  lakes  and  rivers.  To  an 
animal  of  such  habits,  the  weight  of  the  tusks  sustained  in 
water  would  have  been  no  source  of  inconvenience;  and,  if 
we  suppose  them  to  have  been  employed,  as  instruments  for 
raking  aild  grubbing  up  by  the  roots  large  aquatic  vegeta- 
bles from  the  bottom,  they  would,  under  such  service,  com- 
bine the  mechanical  powers  of  the  pick-axe  with  those  of 
the  horse-harrow  of  modern  husbandry.  The  weight  of  the 
head,  placed  above  these  downward  tusks,  would  add  to 
their  efficiency  for  the  service  here  supposed,  as  the  power 
of  the  harrow  is  increased  by  being  loaded. 

The  tusks  of  the  Dinotherium  may  also  have  been  applied 
with  mechanical  advantage  to  hook  the  head  of  the  animal 
to  the  bank,  with  the  nostrils  sustained  above  the  water,  so 
as  to  breathe  securely  during  sleep,  whilst  the  body  remain- 
ed floating,  at  perfect  ease,  beneath  the  surface  :  the  animal 


112  FOSSIL  MAMMALIA. 

might  thus  repose,  moored  to  the  margin  of  a  lake  or  river, 
without  the  sUghtest  muscular  exertion,  the  weight  of  the 
head  and  body  tending  to  fix  and  keep  the  tusks  fast  an- 
chored in  the  substance  of  the  bank ;  as  the  weight  of  the 
body  of  a  sleeping  bird  keeps  the  claws  clasped  firmly 
around  its  perch.  These  tusks  might  have  been  farther 
used,  like  those  in  the  upper  jaw  of  the  Walrus,  to  assist  in 
dragging  the  body  out  of  the  water;  and  also  as  formidable 
instruments  of  defence. 

The  structure  of  the  scapula,  already  noticed,  seems  to 
show  that  the  fore  leg  was  adapted  to  co-operate  with  the 
tusks  and  teeth,  in  digging  and  separating  large  vegetables 
from  the  bottom.  The  great  length  attributed  to  the  body, 
would  have  been  no  way  inconvenient  to  an  animal  living 
in  the  water,  but  attended  with  much  mechanical  disadvan- 
tage to  so  weighty  a  quadruped  upon  land.  In  all  these 
characters  of  a  gigantic,  herbivorous,  aquatic  quadruped, 
we  recognise  adaptations  to  the  lacustrine  condition  of  the 
earth,  during  that  portion  of  the  tertiary  periods,  to  which 
the  existence  of  these  seemingly  anomalous  creatures  ap- 
pears to  have  been  limited. 


SECTION  II. 


MEGATHERIUM. 


As  it  will  be  quite  impossible,  in  the  present  Treatise,  to 
give  particular  descriptions  of  the  structure,  even  of  a  few 
of  the  fossil  Mammalia,  which  have  been,  as  it  were,  re- 
stored again  to  life  by  the  genius  and  industry  of  Cuvier;  I 
shall  endeavour  to  illustrate,  by  the  details  of  a  single 
species,  the  method  of  analytical  investigation,  that  has  been 
applied  by  that  great  philosopher  to  the  anatomy  both  of 
fossil  and  recent  animals. 


MEGATHERIUM.  113 

The  result  of  his  researches,  as  recorded  in  the  Ossemens 
Fossiles,  has  been  to  show  that  all  fossil  quadrupeds,  how- 
ever differing  in  generic  or  specific  details,  are  uniformly 
constructed  on  the  sanne  general  plan,  and  systematic  basis 
of  organization  as  living  species :  and  that  throughout  the 
various  adaptations  of  a  common  type  to  peculiar  functions, 
under  different  conditions  of  the  earth,  there  prevails  such 
universal  conformity  of  design,  that  we  cannot  rise  from 
the  perusal  of  these  inestimable  volumes,  without  a  strong 
conviction  of  the  agency  of  one  vast  and  mighty  Intelli- 
gence, ever  directing  the  entire  fabric,  both  of  past  and  pre- 
sent systems  of  creation. 

Nothing  can  exceed  the  accuracy  of  the  severe  and  logi- 
cal demonstrations,  that  fill  these  volumes  with  proofs  of 
wise  design,  in  the  constant  relation  of  the  parts  of  animals 
to  one  another,  and  to  the  general  functions  of  the  whole 
body.  Nothing  can  surpass  the  perfection  of  his  reasoning, 
in  pointing  out  the  beautiful  contrivances,  which  are  provided 
in  almost  endless  variety,  to  fit  every  living  creature  to  its 
own  peculiar  state  and  mode  of  life.  His  illustration  of  the 
curious  conditions,  and  concurrent  compensations  that  are 
found  in  the  living  Elephants,  apply  equally  to  the  extinct 
fossil  species  of  the  same  genus ;  and  similar  exemphfica- 
tions  may  be  extended  fi'om  the  living  to  the  extinct  species 
of  other  genera,  e.  g.  Rhinoceros,  Hippopotamus,  Horse, 
Ox,  Deer,  Tiger,  Hytena,  Wolf,  &c.,  that  arc  usually  asso- 
ciated with  the  Elephant  in  the  fossil  state. 

The  animal  I  shall  select  for  my  present  purpose  is  that 
most  extraordinary  fossil  creature,  the  jMegatherium,  (see 
PL  5,)  an  animal,  in  some  parts  of  its  organization,  nearlv 
allied  to  the  Sloth,  and,  like  the  Sloth,  presenting  an  ap- 
parent monstrosity  of  external  form,  accompanied  by  many 
strange  pecuUarities  of  internal  structure,  which  have  hitherto 
been  but  little  understood. 

The  Sloths  have  afforded  a  remarkable  exception  to  the 
conclusions  which  naturalists  have  usually  drawn,  from  their 

10* 


114  FOSSIL    MAMMALIA. 

study  of  the  organic  structure  and  mechanism  of  other 
animals.  The  adaptation  of  each  part  of  the  body  of  the 
Elephant,  to  produce  extraordinary  strength,  and  of  every 
member  of  the  Deer  and  Antelope  to  give  agility  and  speed 
are  too  obvious  to  have  escaped  the  attention  of  any  scien- 
tific observer;  but,  it  has  been  the  constant  practice  of 
naturahsts,  to  follow  Buffbn  in  misrepresenting  the  Sloths, 
as  the  most  imperfectly  constructed  among  all  the  members 
of  the  animal  kingdom,  as  creatures  incapable  of  enjoyment, 
and  formed  only  for  misery. 

The  Sloth  does,  indeed,  afibrd  the  greatest  deviations 
from  the  ordinary  structure  of  the  living  quadrupeds ;  and 
these  have  been  erroneously  considered  as  imperfections  in 
its  organization,  without  any  compensating  advantage.  I 
have  elsewhere*  attempted  to  show  that  these  anomalous 
conditions  are  so  far  from  being  defects,  or  sources  of  incon- 
venience in  the  Sloth,  that  they  afford  striking  illustrations 
of  the  varied  contrivances,  whereby  the  structure  of  every 
creature  is  harmoniously  adapted  to  the  state  in  which  it 
was  destined  to  live.  The  peculiarities  of  the  Sloth,  that 
render  its  movements  so  awkward  on  the  earth,  are  fitted 
with  much  advantage  to  its  destined  office  of  hving  entirely 
upon  trees,  and  feeding  upon  their  leaves :  so  also,  if  we  con- 
sider the  Megatherium  with  a  view  to  its  province  of  dig- 
ging and  feeding  upon  roots,  we  shall,  in  this  habit,  discover 
the  explanation  of  its  unusual  structure,  and  apparently  in- 
congruous proportions ;  and  find,  in  every  organ,  a  relation 
of  obvious  convenience,  and  of  adaptation  to  the  office  it  had 
to  discharge.! 

*  Linncan  Transactions,  Vol.  XVII.  I'art  1. 

f  Tlie  remains  of  the  Megatherium  have  been  found  chiefly  in  llie 
southern  regions  of  America,  and  most  abundantly  in  Paraguay ;  it  ap- 
pears also  to  have  extended  on  the  north  of  the  equator  as  far  as  the 
United  States.  We  have  for  some  time,  possessed  detailed  descriptions 
of  this  animal  by  Cuvier,  Oss.  Foss.  vol.  5,  and  a  series  of  large  engrav. 
ings,  by    Paader  and  D'AIton,  taken  from  a  nearly  perftct  fekeleton,  sent 


MEGATHERIUM.  115 

It  will  be  my  present  object  to  enter  into  such  a  minute 
investigation  of  some  of  the  more  remarkable  parts  of  this 
animal,  viewing  them  with  a  constant  reference  to  a  pecu- 
liar mode  of  life,  as  may  lead  to  the  recognition  of  a  system 
of  well  connected  contrivances,  in  the  mechanism  of  a 
creature  apparently  the  most  monstrous,  and  seeming  to 
present  the  most  ill-assorted  proportions,  that  occur  through- 
out the  entire  range  of  the  animal  kingdom. 

We  have  here  before  us  a  gigantic  quadruped,  (see  PL  5, 
Fig.  1,)  which  at  first  sight  appears  not  only  ill-proportioned 
as  a  whole,  but  whose  members  also  seem  incongruous,  and 
clumsy,  if  considered  with  a  view  to  the  functions  and  cor- 
responding limbs  of  ordinary  quadrupeds :  let  us  only  ex- 
amine them  with  the  aid  of  that  clue,  which  is  our  best  and 
essential  guide  in  every  investigation  of  the  mechanism  of 
the  animal  frame ;  let  us  first  infer  from  the  total  composi- 
tion and  capabihties  of  the  machinery,  what  was  the  general 
nature  of  the  work  it  was  destined  to  perform ;  and  from 
the  character  of  the  most  important  parts,  namely,  the  feet 
and  teeth,  make  ourselves  acquainted  with  the  food  these 
organs  were  adapted  to  procure  and  masticate;  and  we 
shall  find  every  other  member  of  the  body  acting  in  harmo- 
nious subordination  to  this  chief  purpose  in  the  animal  eco- 
nomy. 

In  the  case  of  ordinary  animals,  the  passagq  from  one 

in  1789  from  Buenos  Ayres  to  Madrid.  Dr.  Mitchell  and  Mr.  Cooper 
have  described,  in  the  Annals  of  the  Lyceum  of  Natural  History  of  New- 
York,  May,  1824,  some  teeth  and  bones  found  in  the  marshes  of  the  Isle 
of  Skiddaway,  on  the  coast  of  Georgia,  which  correspond  with  the  skelc- 
ton  at  Madrid.  Cuvier,  Vol.,  V.  part  2,  p,  519.— In  the  year  1832,  many 
parts  of  another  skeleton  were  brought  to  England  by  Woodbine  Parish, 
Esq.,  from  the  bed  of  the  river  Saiado,  near  Buenos  Ayres  :  these  are 
placed  in  the  museum  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  in  London,  and 
will  be  described  in  the  Trans,  Geo).  Soc.  Lend.  Vol.  III.,  N.  S.,  Part  3, 
by  my  friend  Mr.  Clift,  a  gentleman  from  whose  great  anatomical  know- 
ledge, I  have  derived  most  important  aid,  in  my  investigation  of  this 
animal. 


116  FOSSIL  MAMMALIA. 

form  to  another  is  so  gradual,  and  the  functions  of  one  species 
receive  such  ample  and  obvious  illustrations  from  those  of 
the  species  adjacent  to  it,  that  we  are  rarely  at  a  loss,  to 
see  the  final  cause  of  almost  every  arrangement  that  is  pre- 
sented to  the  anatomist.  This  is  more  especially  the  cas^ 
with  respect  to  the  skeleton,  which  forms  the  foundation  of 
all  the  other  mechanisms  within  the  body,  and  is  of  the 
highest  importance  in  the  history  of  fossil  animals,  of  which 
we  rarely  find  any  other  remains  besides  the  bones,  and 
teeth,  and  the  scaly  or  osseous  integuments.  I  select  the 
Megatherium,  because  it  affords  an  example  of  most  extra- 
ordinary deviations,  and  of  egregious  apparent  monstrosity ; 
viz.  the  case  of  a  gigantic  animal  exceeding  the  largest 
Rhinoceros  in  bulk,  and  to  which  the  nearest  approxima- 
tions that  occur  in  the  living  world,  are  found  in  the  not 
less  anomalous  genera  of  Sloth,  Armadillo,  and  Chlamy- 
phorus ;  the  former  adapted  to  the  peculiar  habit  of  residing 
upon  trees ;  the  two  latter  constructed  with  unusual  adapta- 
tions to  the  habit  of  burrowing  in  search  of  their  food  and 
shelter  in  sand ;  and  all  limited  in  their  geographical  distri- 
bution, nearly  to  the  same  regions  of  America  that  were  once 
the  residence  of  the  Megatherium. 

I  shall  not  here  enter  on  the  unsettled  questions  as  to  the 
precise  age  of  the  deposites  in  which  the  Megatherium  is 
found,  or  the  causes  by  which  it  has  been  extirpated ;  my 
object  is  to  show  that  the  apparent  incongruities  of  all  its 
parts,  are  in  reality  systems  of  M'ise  and  well  contrived  adap- 
tation to  a  peculiar  mode  of  life.  I  proceed  therefore  to 
consider,  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  described  by  Cu-- 
vier,  the  most  important  organs  of  the  Megatherium,  be- 
o-inning  with  the  head,  and  from  thence  advancing  to  the 
trunk  and  extremities. 

Head. 

The  bones  of  the  head  (PI.  5,  Fig.  1.  a.)  most  nearly  re- 


MEGATHERIUM.  117 

semble  those  of  a  Sloth.  The  long  and  broad  bone,  (b,)  de- 
scending the  cheek  from  the  zygomatic  arch,  connects  it 
more  nearly  with  the  Ai  than  with  any  other  animal :  this 
extraordinary  bone  must  have  been  auxiliary  to  the  power 
of  muscles,  acting  with  more  than  usual  advantage,  in 
giving  motion  to  the  lower  jaw  (d.) 

The  anterior  part  of  the  muzzle  (c)  is  so  strong  and  sub- 
stantial, and  so  perforated  with  holes  for  the  passage  of 
nerves  and  vessels,  that  we  may  be  sure  it  supported  some 
organ  of  considerable  size :  a  long  trunk  was  needless  to  an 
animal  possessing  so  long  a  neck ;  the  organ  was  probably 
a  snout,  something  Uke  that  of  the  Tapir,  sufficiently  elon- 
gated to  gather  up  roots  from  the  ground.  The  septum  of 
the  nostrils  also  being  strong  and  bony,  gives  farther  indica- 
tion of  the  presence  of  a  powerful  organ  appended  to  the 
nose;  such  an  apparatus  would  have  afforded  compensation 
for  the  absence  of  incisor  teeth  and  tusks.  Having  no  in- 
cisors, the  Megatherium  could  not  have  lived  on  grass.  The 
structure  of  the  molar  teeth  (PI.  5,  Fig.  6 — 11,  and  PI.  6, 
No.  1,  shows  that  it  was  not  carnivorous. 

The  composition  of  a  single  molar  tooth  resembles  that  of 
one,  of  the  many  denticules,  that  are  united  in  the  compound 
molar  of  the  Elephant ;  and  affords  an  admirable  exemplifi- 
cation of  the  method  employed  by  Nature,  whereby  three 
substances,  of  unequal  density,  viz.  ivory,  enamel,  and  crusta 
petrosa,  or  cxmentum,  are  united  in  the  construction  of  the 
teeth  of  graminivorous  animals.  The  teeth  are  about  seven 
inches  long,  and  nearly  of  a  prismaticform  (PI.  5,  Fig.  7.  8.) 
the  grinding  surfaces  (PI.  5.  Fig.  9.  a.  b.  c.  and  PI.  6,  Z.  a. 
b.  c.)  exhibit  a  peculiar  and  beautiful  contrivance  for  main- 
taining two  cutting  wedge-shaped  salient  edges,  in  good 
working  condition  during  the  whole  existence  of  the  tooth; 
being,  as  I  before  stated,  a  modification  of  the  contrivance 
employed  in  the  molars  of  the  Elephant,  and  other  herbivora. 
The  same  principle  is  applied  by  tool-makers  for  the  'pur- 
pose of  maintaining  a  sharp  edge  in  axes,  scythes,  bill-hooks. 


118  FOSSIL  MAMMALIA. 

&c.  An  axe,  or  bill-hook,  is  not  made  entirely  of  steel,  but 
of  one  thin  plate  of  steel,  inserted  between  two  plates  of 
softer  iron,  and  so  enclosed  that  the  steel  projects  beyond 
the  iron,  along  the  entire  line  of  the  cutting  edge  of  the  in- 
strument. A  double  advantage  resuUs  from  this  contri- 
vance ;  first,  the  instrument  is  less  liable  to  fracture  than  if 
it  were  entirely  made  of  the  more  brittle  material  of  steel ; 
and  secondly,  the  cutting  edge  is  more  easily  kept  sharp  by 
grinding  down  a  portion  of  exterior  soft  iron,  than  if  the  en- 
tire mass  were  of  hard  steel.  By  a  similar  contrivance,  two 
cutting  edges  are  produced  on  the  crown  of  the  molar  teeth 
of  the  Megatherium.  (See  PI.  6,  W.  X.  Y.  Z.  and  PI.  5, 
Figs.  6—10.*) 

PI.  6,  W.  X.  represents  the  manner  in  which  each  lower 
tooth  was  opposed  to  the  tooth  above  it,  so  that  the  hard 
enamel  of  the  one  should  come  in  contact  only  with  the 
softer  materials  of  the  other ;  viz.  the  edges  of  the  plates  of 

*  The  outside  of  the  tooth,  like  that  of  an  axe,  is  made  of  a  comparative!}' 
soft  material,  viz.  the  crusta  petrosa,  (a  a,)  enclosing  a  plate  of  enamel,  (b 
b,)  which  is  the  hardest  substance,  or  steel  of  the  tooth.  This  enamel 
passes  twice  across  the  grinding  surface,  (z,)  and  forms  the  cutting  edges  of 
two  parellei  wedges,  Y.  b.  b. :  a  longitudinal  section  of  these  vs^edges  is  seen, 
PI.  6.  V.  w.  X.  Y.  Within  the  enamel,  (b  b,)  is  a  central  mass  of  ivory,  (c,) 
which,  like  the  external  crust,  (a)  is  softer  than  the  enameL  A  tooth,  thus 
constructed  of  materials  of  unequal  density,  would  have  its  softer  parts,  (ac,) 
worn  down  more  readily  than  the  harder  plates  of  enamel,  (b  b.) 

We  find  a  farther  nicety  of  mechanical  contrivance,  for  producing  and 
maintaining  two  transverse  wedges  upon  the-  surface  of  each  tooth,  in  the 
relative  adjustment  of  the  thickness,  of  the  lateral  and  transverse  portions  of 
the  plate  of  enamel,  which  is  interposed  between  the  external  crust,  (a,)  and 
the  central  ivory,  (c.)  Had  this  enamel  been  of  uniform  thickness  all  round 
the  central  ivory,  the  tooth  would  have  worn  down  equally  to  a  hori- 
zontal surface.  In  the  crown  of  the  tooth,  PI.  6,  Z.  the  plate  of  enamel  is 
seen  to  be  thin  on  the  two  sides  of  tiic  tooth,  whilst  the  transverse  portions 
of  the  same  plate,  (b.  b.)  are  comparatively  thick  and  strong.  Hence  the 
weaker  lateral  portions  of  thin  enamel  wear  away  more  rapidly,  than  the 
tliicker  and  stronger  transverse  portions,  (b  b,)  and  do  not  prevent  the  exca- 
vation  of  the  furrow  across  the  surface  of  tiic  ivory,  c. 


MEGATHERIUM.  119 

enamel,  (b)  rubbing  upon  the  ivory,  (c ;)  and  the  enamel, 
(b',)  upon  the  crusta  petrosa,  (a,)  of  the  two  teeth  opposite 
to  it.  Hence  the  act  of  mastication  formed  and  perpetually 
maintained  a  series  of  wedges,  locking  into  each  other  like 
the  alternate  ridges  on  the  rollers  of  a  crushing-mill ;  and 
the  mouth  of  the  Megatherium  became  an  engine  of  prodi- 
gious power,  in  which  thirty-two  such  wedges  formed  the 
grinding  surfaces  of  sixteen  molar  teeth  ;  each  from  seven 
to  nine  inches  long,  and  having  the  greater  part  of  this  length 
fixed  firmly  in  a  socket  of  great  depth. 

As  the  surfaces  of  these  teeth  must  have  worn  away  with 
much  rapidity,  a  provision,  unusual  in  molar  teeth,  and  simi- 
lar to  that  in  the  incisor  teeth  of  the  Beaver  and  other  Ro- 
dentia,*  supplied  the  loss  that  M^as  continually  going  on  at 
the  crown,  by  the  constant  addition  of  new  matter  at  the 
root,  which  for  this  purpose  remained  hollow,  and  filled  with 
pulp  during  the  whole  life  of  the  animal.f 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  find  any  apparatus  in  the  me- 
chanism of  dentition,  which  constitutes  a  more  powerful  en- 
gine for  masticating  roots,  than  was  formed  by  these  teeth 
of  the  Megatherium ;  accompanied  also  by  a  property, 
which  is  the  perfection  of  all  machinery,  namely,  that  of 
maintaining  itself  perpetually  in  perfect  order,  by  the  act  of 
performing  its  woi'k. 

*  The  incisors  of  the  Beaver,  and  other  Rodentia,  and  tusks  of  the  Hog 
and  Hippopotamus,  whicli  require  only  an  external  cutting  edge,  and  not 
a  grinding  surface,  are  constructed  on  the  same  principle  as  the  cutting  edge 
of  a  chissel  or  an  adze;  viz.  a  plate  of  bard  enamel  is  applied  to  the  outer 
surface  only,  of  the  ivory  of  these  teeth,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  outer 
cutting  edge  of  the  chissel  and  adze  is  faced  with  a  plate  of  steel,  welded 
against  an  inner  plate  of  softer  iron.  A  tooth  thus  constructed  maintains  its 
cutting  edge  of  enamel  continually  sharp,  by  the  act  of  working  against  the 
similarly  constructed  extremity  of  the  tooth  opposed  to  it. 

f  FI.  5,  Fig.  11,  represents  the  section  of  the  cavity  containing  this  pulp. 


120  FOSSIL  MAMMALIA. 


Lower  Jaw. 


The  lower  jaw  (PI.  5,  1.  d.)  is  very  large  and  weighty  in 
proportion  to  the  rest  of  the  head;  the  object  of  this  size 
being  to  afford  deep  sockets  for  the  continual  growth  and 
firm  fixture  of  the  long  and  vertical  molar  teeth;  the  extra- 
ordinary and  strong  process  (b)  descending  from  the  zygo- 
matic arch  in  the  Megatherium,  as  well  as  in  the  Sloths, 
seems  intended  to  support  the  unusual  weight  of  the  lower 
jaw  consequent  upon  the  pecuhar  form  of  the  molar  teeth. 

Bones  of  the  Trunk. 

The  vertebrae  of  the  neck,  though  strong,  are  small  in 
comparison  with  those  towards  the  opposite  extremity  of  the 
body;  being  duly  proportioned  to  the  size  of  a  head,  compa- 
ratively light,  and  without  tusks.  The  dorsal  portion  of  the 
vertebral  column  is  of  moderate  size,  but  there  is  an  enlarge- 
ment of  the  vertebras  of  the  loins,  corresponding  with  the  ex- 
traordinary bulk  of  the  pelvis  and  hind  legs;  the  summits  of 
the  spinous  processes,  (e,)  are  flattened  like  those  in  the  Ar- 
madillo, as  if  by  the  pressure  of  a  cuirass. 

The  sacral  bone,  (PL  5,  Fig.  2,  a,)  is  united  to  the  pelvis, 
(p,)  -in  a  manner  peculiar  to  itself,  and  calculated  to  produce 
extraordinary  strength;  its  processes  indicate  the  existence 
of  very  powerful  muscles  for  the  movement  of  the  tail.  The 
tail  was  long,  and  composed  of  vertebrce  of  enormous  mag- 
nitude, (PI.  6,  Fig.  2,)  the  body  of  the  largest  being  seven 
inches  in  diameter,  and  the  horizontal  distance  between  the 
extremities  of  the  two  transverse  processes,  being  twenty 
inches.  If  to  this  we  add  the  thickness  of  the  muscles  and 
tendons,  and  of  the  shelly  integument,  the  diameter  of  the 
tail,  at  its  largest  end,  must  have  been  at  least  two  feet;  and 
its  circumference,  supposing  it  to  be  nearly  circular  like  the 
tail  of  the  Armadillo,  about  six  feet.     These  vast  dimensions 


MEGATHERIUM.  121 

are  not  larger  in  proportion  to  the  adjacent  parts  of  the  body, 
than  those  of  the  tail  of  the  Armadillo,  and  as  this  animal 
applies  its  tail,  to  aid  in  supporting  the  weight  of  its  body 
•and  armour,  it  is  probable  that  the  Megatherium  made  a 
similar  use  of  the  same  organ.*  To  the  caudal  vertebra3 
were  attached  also  large  inferior  spines,  or  additional  Chev- 
ron bones,  which  must  have  added  to  the  strength  of  the 
tail,  in  assisting  to  support  the  body.  The  tail  also  probably 
■served  for  a  formidable  instrument  of  defence,  as  in  the  Pan- 
golens  and  Crocodiles.  In  1822,  Sellow  saw  portions  of  ar- 
mour that  had  covered  a  tail,  found  near  Monto  Viaeo. 

The  ribs  are  more  substantial,  and  much  thicker,  and 
■shorter,  than  those  of  the  Elephant  or  Rhinoceros;  and  the 
upper  convex  surfaces  of  some  of  them  exhibit  a  rugous  and 
flattened  condition  of  that  part,  on  which  the  weight  of  a 
bony  cuirass  would  most  immediately  have  rested. 


Anterior  Extremity. 

The  scapula  or  shoulder  blade,  (PI.  5,  Fig.  l,f,)  resembles 
that  of  no  other  family  except  the  Sloths,  and  exhibits  in  the 
Acromion  (g,)  contrivances  for  strength,  pecuhar  to  itself 
and  them,  in  its  mode  of  articulation  with  the  collar  bone 
(h;)  it  exhibits  also  unusual  provisions  for  the  support  of  the 
most  powerful  muscles  for  the  movement  of  the  arm. 

The  clavicle  or  collar  bone  (h)  is  strong,  and  curved 
nearly  as  in  the  human  subject;  the  presence  of  this  bone  in 
the  Megatherium,  whilst  it  is  wanting  in  the  Elephant,  Rhi- 
noceros, and  all  the  large  ruminatmg  animals,  shows  that 
the  fore-leg  discharged  some  other  office,  than  that  of  an 

•  The  tail  of  the  Elephant  is  remarkably  light  and  slender,  with  a  tuft  of 
coarse  hair  at  its  extremity,  to  brush  off  flies;  that  of  the  Hippopotamus  is 
a  few  inches  only  in  length,  and  flattened  vertically,  to  act  as  a  small  rudder 
in  swimming. 

VOL.  I, — 11 


122  FOSSIL  MAMMALIA. 

organ  of  locomotion.  This  clavicle  would  give  a  steady 
and  fixed  position  to  the  socket,  or  glenoid  cavity  of  the  sca- 
pula, admitting  of  rotatory  motion  in  the  fore-leg,  analogous 
to  that  of  the  human  arm.  There  is  in  these  circumstances 
a  triple  accommodation  to  the  form  and  habits  of  the  Mega- 
therium ;  1°.  a  free  rotatory  power  of  the  arm  was  auxiliary 
to  its  office,  as  an  instrument  to  be  employed  continually  in 
digging  food  out  of  the  ground;  2°.  this  act  of  perpetual  dig- 
ging in  search  of  stationary  objects  like  roots,  required  but 
little  locomotive  power;  3°.  the  comparatively  small  sup- 
port afforded  to  the  weight  of  the  body  by  the  fore-leg,  was 
compensated  by  the  extraordinary  and  colossal  strength  of 
the  haunches  and  hind  legs.  In  the  Elephant,  the  great 
weight  of  the  head  and  tusks  require  shortness  of  neck,  and 
unusual  enlargement  and  strength  in  the  fore-legs ;  hence, 
the  anterior  parts  of  this  animal  are  much  stronger  and 
larger  than  its  hinder  parts.  In  the  case  of  the  Megatherium, 
the  relative  proportions  are  reversed;  the  head  is  compa- 
ratively small,  the  neck  is  long,  and  the  anterior  part  of  the 
body  but  slightly  loaded  in  comparison  with  its  abdominal 
and  posterior  regions.  In  the  shoulder  blade  and  collar 
bone  there  is  great  provision  to  give  strength  and  motion  to 
the  fore-legs ;  but  this  motion  is  not  progressive,  nor  is  the 
strength  calculated  merely  to  support  the  weight  of  the 
body.  The  humerus,  (k)  articulates  with  the  scapula  by  a 
round  head,  admitting  of  free  motion  in  various  directions, 
and  is  small  at  its  upper  and  middle  part,  but  at  its  lower 
end  attains  extraordinary  breadth,  in  consequence  of  an 
enormous  expansion  of  the  crests,  which  rise  from  the  con- 
dyles, to  give  origin  to  muscles  for  the  movement  of  the  fore- 
foot and  toes.*  The  ulna  (1)  is  extremely  broad  and  pow- 
erful at  its  upper  extremity,  affording  large  space  for  the 

*  There  is  a  similar  expansion  of  the  lower  part  of  the  Humerus  in  the 
Ant-eater,  which  employs  its  fore-feet  in  digging  up  the  solid  hills  of  the 
Termite  Ants. 


MEGATHERIUM.  123 

origin  of  muscles,  concerned  in  the  movements  of  the  foot. 
Tiie  radius  (m)  revolves  freely  on  the  ulna,  as  in  the  Sloths 
and  Ant-eaters,  both  of  which  make  much  use  of  the  fore- 
leg, though  for  different  purposes ;  it  has  a  cavity  at  its  up- 
per end,  which  turns  upon  a  spherical  portion  of  the  lower 
part  of  the  humerus,  and  a  large  apophysis  (n,)  projecting 
from  its  longitudinal  crest,  indicates  great  power  in  the 
muscles  that  gave  rotatory  motion. 

The  entire  fore-foot  must  have  been  about  a  yard  in 
length,  and  more  than  twelve  inches  wide ;  forming  a  most 
efficient  instrument  for  moving  the  earth,  from  that  depth 
within  which  succulent  roots  are  usually  most  abundant. 
This  great  length  of  the  fore-foot,  w^hen  resting  upon  the 
ground,  though  unfavourable  to  progressive  motion,  must 
have  enabled  one  fore-leg,  when  acting  in  conjunction  with 
the  two  hind-legs  and  tail,  to  support  the  entire  weight  of 
the  body ;  leaving  the  other  fore- leg  at  liberty  to  be  employed 
exclusively  in  the  operation  of  digging  food.* 

The  toes  of  the  fore-foot  are  terminated  by  large  and 
powerful  claws  of  great  length ;  the  bones,  supporting  these 
claws,  are  composed  partly  of  an  axis,  or  pointed  core,  (o,) 
which  filled  the  internal  cavity  of  the  horny  claw;  and 
partly  of  a  bony  sheath,  that  formed  a  strong  case  to  re- 
ceive and  support  its  base.  These  claws  were  set  obliquely 
to  the  ground,  like  the  digging  claws  of  the  Mole,  a  position 
which  made  them  instruments  of  greater  power  for  the  pur- 
pose of  excavation. 

*  At  PI.  5,  beneath  Fig.  1,  are  represented  the  fore-foot  of.  an  Armadillo 
(Daspyus  Peba,)  and  the  forefoot  of  the  Chlamyphorus,  eacli  adapted,  like 
that  of  the  Megatherium,  to  form  an  instrument  of  peculiar  power  for  the 
purpose  of  dig-g-ing^;  and  each  presenting  an  extraordinary  enlargement 
and  elongation  of  the  extreme  bones  of  the  toes,  for  tlie  support  of  long  and 
massive  claws.  At  PI.  5,  Figs.  18,  19,  the  anterior  parts  of  tliesc  animals 
are  represented,  and  show  how  large  a  proportion  the  claws  bear  to  the 
other  parts  of  the  body. 


124  FOSSIL  MAMMALIA. 

Posterior  Extremities. 

The  pelvis  of  the  Megatherium  (PI.  5,  Fig.  2.  p.)  is  of 
vast  solidity  and  expanse;  and  the  enormous  bones  of  the 
ileum  (r)  are  set  nearly  at  right  angles  to  the  spine  of  the 
back,  and  at  their  outer  margin,  or  crest,  are  more  than  five 
feet  asunder,  very  much  exceeding  the  diameter  across  the 
haunches  of  the  targest  elephant :  the  crest  of  the  ileum,  (s,) 
is  much  flattened,  as  if  by  the  pressure  of  the  armour.  This 
enormous  size  of  the  pelvis  would  be  disproportionate  and 
inconvenient  to  an  animal  of  ordinary  stature  and  functions; 
but  was  probably  attended  with  much  advantage  to  the 
Megatherium,  in  relation  to  its  habit  of  standing  great  part 
of  its  time  on  three  legs,  whilst  the  fourth  was  occupied  in 
digging. 

The  pelvis  being  thus,  unusually  wide  and  heavy,  pre- 
sents a  farther  deviation  from  other  animals,  as  to  the  place 
and  direction  of  the  acetabulum,  or  socket  which  articulates 
with  the  head  of  the  thigh-bone  (u.)  This  cavity,  in  other 
animals,  is  usually  set  more  or  less  obliquely  outwards,  and 
by  this  obliquitj^  facilitates  the  movement  of  the  hind-legj 
but  in  the  Megatherium  it  is  set  perpendicularly  downwards, 
over  the  head  of  the  femur,  and  is  also  nearer  than  usual  to 
the  spine;  deriving  from  this  position  increase  of  strength 
for  supporting  vertical  pressure,  but  attended  with  a  dimi- 
nished capability  of  rapid  motion.* 

*  There  is  also  a  farther  peculiarity  for  the  increase  of  strcngtli  in  the  man- 
ner in  wliich  that  part,  which,  in  most  other  animals,  is  an  open  space,  called 
the  ischiatic  notch  (Pi.  5,  Fig.  2  c.)  is  nearly  closed  with  solid  bone  by  th# 
union  of  the  spines  of  the  ischia  with  the  elongated  transverse  processes  of 
the  sacral  vertebrae,  (a.) 

Farther  evidence  of  the  enormous  size  and  power  in  the  muscles  of  the 
thigh  and  leg  is  afforded  by  the  magnitude  of  the  cavity  in  the  sacrum,  (PI, 
5.  d,)  for  the  passage  of  the  spinal  marrow:  this  cavity  being  about  four 
inches  in  diameter,  the  spinal  marrow  must  have  been  a  foot  in  circumfe- 
rence. The  extraordinary  magnitude  also  of  the  nerves  which  proceeded 
from  it  to  supply  the  leg,  is  indicated  by  the  prodigious  size  of  the  sacrai 
foramina. 


MEGATHERIUM.  125 

From  the  enormous  width  of  the  pelvis,  it  follows  also 
that  the  abdominal  cavity  was  extremely  large,  and  the 
viscei'a  voluminous,  and  adapted  to  the  digestion  of  vege- 
table food. 

The  form  and  proportions  of  the  thigh-bone,  (v)  are  not 
less  extraordinary  than  those  of  the  pelvis,  being  nearly 
three  times  the  thickness  of  the  femur  of  the  largest  Ele- 
phant. Its  breadth  is  nearly  half  its  entire  length,  and  its 
head  is  united  to  the  body  of  the  bone  by  a  neck  of  unusual 
shortness  and  strength,  twenty-two  inches  in  circumference. 
Its  length  is  two  feet  four  inches,  and  its  circumference  at 
the  smallest  part,  two  feet  two  inches ;  and  at  the  largest 
part,  three  feet  two  inches.  Its  body  is  also  flattened ;  and  by 
means  of  this  flatness,  expanded  outwards  to  a  degree  of 
which  Nature  presents  no  other  example.  These  pecuHari- 
ties  in  the  femur  appear  to  be  subservient  to  a  double  pur- 
pose :  first,  to  give  extraordinary  strength  by  the  shortness 
and  solidity  of  all  its  proportions ;  and  secondly,  to  afford 
compensation  by  its  flatness  outwards;  for  the  debility 
which  would  otherwise  have  followed  from  the  inwai'd  po- 
sition of  the  sockets,  (t.)  by  which  the  femur,  (u,)  articulates 
with  the  pelris. 

The  two  bones  of  the  leg  (x,  y,)  are  also  extremely  shorty 
and  on  a  scale  of  solidity  and  strength,  commensurate  with 
that  of  the  femur  that  rests  upon  them.  This  strength  is 
much  increased  by  their  being  united  at  both  extremities ;  a 
union  which  is  said  by  Cuvier  to  occur  in  no  other  animals 
except  the  Armadillo  and  Chlamyphorus ;  both  of  which  are 
continually  occupied  in  digging  for  their  food. 

The  articulation  of  the  leg  with  the  hind-foot  is  admira- 
bly contrived  for  supporting  the  enormous  pressure  of  down- 
ward weight ;  the  astragalus  (z,)  or  great  bone  of  the  in- 
step, being  nine  inches  broad  and  nine  inches  high,  is  in  due 
proportion  to  the  lower  extremity  of  the  tibia,  or  leg-bone,  with 
which  it  articulates ;  and  rests  upon  a  heel-bone,  of  the  extra- 
ordinary length  of  seventeen  inches,  with  a  circumference  of 

11* 


126  FOSSIL  MAMMALIA. 

twenty-eight  inches.  This  enormous  bone,  pressing  on  the- 
ground,  gives  a  firm  bearing  and  solid  support  to  the  continu- 
ous accumulation  of  weight,  which  we  have  been  tracing 
down  from  the  pelvis  through  the  thigh  and  leg :  in  fact  the 
heel-bone  occupies  nearly  one-half  of  the  entire  length  of  the 
hind-foot ;  the  bones  of  the  toes  are  all  short,  excepting  the 
extreme  joint,  which  forms  an  enormous  claw-bone ;  larger 
than  the  largest  of  those  in  the  fore-foot^  measurmg  thirteen 
inches  in  circumference,  and  having  wnthin  its  sheath  a 
core,  ten  inches  long,  for  the  support  of  the  horny  claw 
with  which  it  was  invested.  The  chief  use  of  this  large 
claw  was  probably  to  keep  the  hind-foot  fixed  steadily  upon 
the  ground.* 

Feet  and  legs  thus  heavily  constructed,  must  have  been 
very  inefficient  organs  of  rapid  locomotion,  and  may  conse- 
quently seem  imperfect,  if  considered  in  relation  to  the  or- 
dinary functions  of  other  quadrupeds ;  but,  viewed  as  in- 
struments adapted  for  supporting  an  almost  stationary  crea- 
ture, of  unusual  weight,  they  claim  our  admiration  equally 
with  every  other  piece  of  animal  mechanism,  when  its  end 
and  uses  are  understood.  The  perfection  of  any  instrument 
can  only  be  appreciated  by  looking  to  the  work  it  is  intend- 
ed to  perform.  The  hammer  and  anvil  of  an  anchorsmith, 
though  massive,  are  neither  clumsy  nor  imperfect ;  but  bear 
the  same  proportionate  relation  to  the  work  in  which  they 
are  employed,  as  the  light  and  fine  tools  of  the  watchmaker 
bear  to  the  more  delicate  wheels  of  his  chronometer. 


Bony  Armour. 

Another  remarkable  character  of  the  Megatherium,  in 
which    it    approaches  most    nearly  to  the  Armadillo,  and 

*  It  is  probable  that  the  large  thick  claw,  PI.  5  5',  was  placed  on  tha 
second  toe  of  the  hind-foot.  Its  size  approaches  nearly  to  that  of  the  first 
toe  of  this  foot,  and  both  of  tliese  differ  materially  in  form  and  propoc 


MEGATHERIUM.  127 

Chlamyphorus,  consists,  in  its  hide  having  probably  been 
covered  with  a  bony  coat  of  armour ;  varying  from  three- 
fourths  of  an  inch,  to  an  inch  and  a  half  in  thickness,  and 
resembling  the  armour  which  covers  these  living  inhabitants, 
of  the  same  warm  and  sandy  regions  of  South  America. 
Fragments  of  this  armour  are  represented  at  PI.  5,  Figs. 
12,  13.* 

A  covering  of  such  enormous  weight,  would  have 
been  consistent  with  the  general  structure  of  the  Mefrathe- 
rium ;  its  columnar  hind-legs  and  colossal  tail,  were  calcu- 
lated to  give  it  due  support ;  and  the  strength  of  the  loins 
and  ribs,  being  very  much  greater  than  in  the  Elephant, 
seems  to  have  been  necessary  for  carrying  so  ponderous  a 
cuirass  as  that  which  we  suppose  to  have  covered  the 
body.f 

Hon?,  from  the  three  more  elongated  and  flatter  claw-bones  of  the  fore-foot, 
the  oblique  form  of  which  is  peculiarly  adapted  for  digg'ing. 

*  The  resemblance  between  some  parts  of  this  fossil  armour,  and  of  the 
armour  of  an  Armadillo,  (Dasypus  Pcba)  is  extended  even  to  the  detail  of 
the  patterns  of  the  tubcrculatcd  compartments  into  which  they  are  divided, 
see  PI.  5,  Figs.  12,  14.  The  increase  of  size  in  the  entire  shield  is  in  both 
casss  provided  for,  by  causing  the  centre  of  every  plate  to  form  a  centre  of 
growth,  around  which  the  margin  receives  continual  additions,  as  the  in- 
creasing bulk  of  the  body  requires  an  increase  in  the  dimensions  of  the  bony 
case,  by  which  it  is  invested.  Figs.  15,  16,  17,  represent  portions  of  the 
armour  of  the  head,  body,  and  tail  piece  of  the  Chlamyphorus.  Figs.  18, 
19,  represent  the  manner  in  which  the  armour  is  disposed  over  the  head 
and  anterior  part  of  the  body  of  the  Chlamyphorus,  and  Dasypusi  Peba. 
The  body  of  the  Megatherium,  when  covered  with  its  corresponding  coat  of 
armour,,  must  in  some  degree  have  rcscaibled  a  tilted  wagon. 

t  In  the  transactions  of  the  Academy  of  Berlin,  1830,  Professor  Weiss 
has  published  an  account  of  some  bones  of  the  Megatherium,  discovered 
near  Monte  Video,  accompanied  by  several  fragments  of  bony  armour. 
Much  of  this  armour  he  refers  without  doubt  to  the  Megatherium;  other 
portions  of  it,  and  also  many  bones  fro.m  the  same  district,  he  assigns  to 
other  aiiin)a!s.  A  similar  admixture  of  bones  and  armour,  derived  from  more 
than  one  species  of  animal,  bearing  a  bony  cuirass,  isfoimd  in  the.  collection 
made  at  several  and  distant  points  of  the  country  above  Buenos  Ayres,.  by 


128  FOSSIL  MAMMALIA. 

It  remains  to  consider,  of  what  use  this  cuirass  could  have 
been  to  the  gigantic  animal  on  which  it  probably  was  placed. 
As  the  locomotive  organs  of  the  Megatherium  indicate  very 
slow  power  of  progression,  the  weight  of  a  cuirass  would 
have  afforded  little  impediment  to  such  tardy  movements; 
its  use  was  probably  defensive,  not  only  against  the  tusks 
and  claws  of  beasts  of  prey,  but  also,  against  the  myriads 
of  insects,  that  usually  swarm  in  such  climates  as  those 
wherein  its  bones  are  found ;  and  to  which  an  animal  that 
obtained  its  food  by  digging  beneath  a  broiling  sun,  would 
be  in  a  peculiar  degree  exposed.  We  may  also  conjecture 
it  to  have  had  a  farther  use  in  the  protection  afforded  by  it 
to  the  back,  and  upper  parts  of  the  body ;  not  only  against 
the  sun  and  rain,  but  against  the  accumulations  of  sand  and 
dust,  that  might  otherwise  have  produced  irritation  and 
disease.* 

Mr.  Parish.  Although  no  armour  was  found  with  the  fragrnents  of  tlie 
large  skeleton,  in  tlic  bed  of  tiic  Salado,  the  rough  broad  flattened  surface  of 
a  part  of  the  crest  of  the  ileum  of  this  skeleton,  (see  PI.  5,  Fig.  2.  r,  s,)  and 
the  broad  condition  of  the  summit  of  the  spinous  processes  of  many  vcrlebrse, 
and  also  of  the  superior  convex  portion  of  certain  ribs  on  which  the  armour 
would  rest,  afford  evidence  of  pressure,  similar  to  that  we  find  on  the  ana- 
logous parts  of  the  skeleton  of  the  Armadillo,  from  which  we  might  have  in- 
terred that  the  Megatherium  also  was  covered  with  heavy  armour,  even  had 
no  sueh  armour  been  discovered  near  bones  of  this  animal  in  other  parts  of 
the  same  level  district  of  Paraguay.  In  all  these  flattened  bones  the  effects 
of  pressure  are  confined  to  those  parts  of  the  skeleton,  on  which  the  armour 
would  rest,  and  are  such  as  occur  in  a  remarkable  degree  in  the  Armadillo. 

*  To  animals  that  dig  only  occasionally,  like  Badgers,  Foxes,  and  Rab- 
bits, to  form  a  habitation  beneath  the  ground,  but  seek  their  food  upon  the 
surface,  a  defence  of  tins  kind  would  not  only  have  been  unnecessary  but 
inconvenient. 

The  Armadillo  and  Ciilamyphorus  are  the  only  known  animals  that 
have  a  coat  of  armour  compoFed  of  thick  plates  of  bone,  like  that  of  the 
Megatherium.  As  this  peculiar  covering  is  confined  to  these  quadrupcdsi 
we  can  hardly  imagine  its  use  to  be  solely  for  protection  against  other 
Ijeasts  and  insects;  but  as  the  Armadillo  obtains  its  food  by  digging  in, 


MEGATHERIUM.  129 

Conclusion. 

We  have  now  examined  in  detail  the  skeleton  of  an  ex- 
tinct quadruped  of  enormous  magnitude ;  every  bone  of 
w^hich  presents  peculiarities,  that  at  first  sight  appear  im- 
perfectly contrived,  but  which  become  intelligible  whea 
viewed  in  their  relations  to  one  another,  and  to  the  func- 
tions of  the  animal  in  which  they  occur. 

The  size  of  the  Megatherium  exceeds  that  of  the  existing, 
Edentata,  to  which  it  is  most  nearly  allied,  in  a  greater  de- 
gree than  any  other  fossil  animal  exceeds  its  nearest  living 
congeners.  With  the  head  and  shoulders  of  a  Sloth,  it 
combined  in  its  legs  and  feet,  an  admixture  of  the  charac- 
ters of  the  Ant-eater,  the  Armadillo,  and  the  Chlamyphorus ; 
it  probably  also  still  farther  resembled  the  Armadillo  and 
Chlamyphorus,  in  being  cased  with  a  bony  coat  of  armour. 
Its  haunches  were  more  than  five  feet  wide,  and  its  body 
twelve  feet  long  and  eight  feet  high ;  its  feet  were  a  yard  in 
length,  and  terminated  by  most  gigantic  claws;  its  tail  was 
probably  clad  in  armour,  and  much  larger  than  the  tail  of 
any  other  beast,  among  extinct  or  living  terrestrial  Mam- 
malia. Thus  heavily  constructed,  and  ponderously  accou- 
tred, it  could  neither  run,  nor  leap,  nor  climb,  nor  burrow 
under  the  ground,  and  in  all  its  movements  must  have  been 
necessarily  sIoav  ;  but  what  need  of  rapid  locomotion  to  an 
animal,  whose  occupation  of  digging  roots  for  food  was 
almost  stationary?  and  what  need  of  speed  for  flight  from 
foes,  to  a  creature  whose  giant  carcass  was  encased  in  an 
inpenetrable  cuirass,  and  who  by  a  single  pat  of  his  paw, 

the  same  dry  and  sandy  plains,  which  were  once  inhabited  by  the  Mega- 
therium, and  the  Chlamyphorus  lives  almost  entirely  in  burrows  beneath 
the  surface  of  the  same  sandy  regions ;  they  both  probably  receive  from 
their  cuirass  the  same  protection  to  the  upper  parts  of  their  bodies  from 
sand  and  dust,  which  we  suppose  to  have  been  afforded  by  its  cuirass  to 
the  Megatherium.  The  Pangolins  are  covered  with  a  different  kind  of 
armour,  composed  of  horny  moveable  scales,  in  which  tliere  is  no  bony 
matter. 


130  FOSSIL    SAUIIIANS. 

or  lash  of  his  tail,  could  in  an  instant  have  demolished  the 
Couguar  or  the  Crocodile  ?  Secure  within  the  panoply  of 
his  bony  armour,  where  was  the  enemy  that  would  dare 
encounter  this  Leviathan  of  the  Pampas  ?  or,  in  what  more 
powerful  creature  can  we  find  the  cause  that  has  effected 
the  extirpation  of  his  race  ? 

His  entire  frame  was  an  apparatus  of  colossal  mechanism, 
adapted  exactly  to  the  work  it  had  to  do ;  strong  and  pon- 
derous, in  proportion  as  this  work  was  heavy,  and  calcu- 
lated to  be  the  vehicle  of  life  and  enjoyment  to  a  gigantic 
race  of  quadrupeds  ;  which,  though  they  have  ceased  to  be 
counted  among  the  living  inhabitants  of  our  planet,  have,  in 
their  fossil  bones,  left  behind  them  imperishable  monuments 
of  the  consummate  skill  with  which  they  were  constructed. 
Each  limb,  and  fragment  of  a  limb,  forming  co-ordinate 
parts  of  a  well-adjusted  and  perfect  whole  ;  and  through  all 
their  deviations  from  the  form  and  proportion  of  the  limbs 
of  other  quadrupeds,  affording  fresh  proofs  of  the  infinitely 
varied,  and  inexhaustible  contrivances  of  Creative  Wisdom. 


SECTION  III. 


FOSSIL    SAURIAN  S. 


In  those  distant  ages  ihat  elapsed  during  the  formation 
of  strata  of  the  secondary  series,  so  large  a  field  was  oc- 
cupied by  reptiles,  referable  to  the  order  of  Saurians,  that 
it  becomes  an  important  part  of  our  inquiry  to  examine  the 
history  and  organization  of  these  curious  reUcs  of  ancient 
creations,  which  are  known  to  us  only  in  a  fossil  state.  A 
task  like  this  may  appear  quite  hopeless  to  persons  unaccus- 
tomed to  the  investigation  of  subjects  of  such  remote  an- 
tiquity ;  yet  Geology,  as  now  pursued,  with  the  aid  of  com- 
parative anatomy,  supplies  abundant  evidence  of  the  struc- 


FOSSIL  SAURIANS.  131 

ture  and  functions  of  these  extinct  families  of  reptiles ;  and 
not  only  enables  us  to  infer  from  the  restoration  of  their 
skeletons,  what  may  have  been  the  external  form  of  their 
bodies ;  but  instructs  us  also  as  to  their  economy  and  habits, 
the  nature  of  their  food,  and  even  of  their  organs  of  di- 
gestion. It  farther  shows  their  relation  to  the  then  existing 
condition  of  the  world,  and  to  the  other  forms  of  organic 
life  with  which  they  were  associated. 

The  remains  of  these  reptiles  bear  a  much  greater  re- 
semblance to  one  another,  than  to  those  of  any  animals  we 
discover  in  deposites  preceding  or  succeeding  the  secondary 
series.* 

The  species  of  fossil  Saurians  are  so  numerous,  that  we 
can  only  select  a  few  of  the  most  remarkable  among  them, 
for  the  purpose  of  exemplifying  the  prevailing  conditions  of 
animal  life,  at  the  periods  when  the  dominant  class  of  ani- 
mated beings  were  reptiles;  attaining,  in  many  cases,  a 
magnitude  unknown  among  the  living  orders  of  that  class, 
ajid  which  seems  to  have  been  pecuUar  to  those  middle 
uges  of  geological  chronology,  that  were  intermediate  be- 
tween the  transition  and  tertiary  formations. 

During  these  ages  of  reptiles,  neither  the  carnivorous 
nor  lacustrine  Mammaha  of  the  tertiary  periods  had  begun 
to  appear ;  but  the  most  formidable  occupants,  both  of  land 
and  water,  were  Crocodiles,  and  Lizards ;  of  various  forms, 
and  often  of  gigantic  stature,  fitted  to  endure  the  turbulence, 
and  continual  convulsions  of  the  unquiet  surface  of  our 
infant  world. 

When  we  see  that  so  large  and  important  a  range  has 
been  assigned  to  reptiles  among  the  former  population  of 

*  The  oldest  strata  in  which  any  reptiles  have  yet  been  found  are  those 
connected  with  the  magnesian-lirnestone  formation.  (PI.  1,  Sec.  16.)  The 
existence  of  reptiles  allied  to  the  Monitor  in  the  cupriferoHs  slate  and 
zechstcin  of  Germany,  has  long^  been  known.  In  1834,  two  species  of  rep- 
tiles, allied  to  the  Iguana  and  Monitor,  were  discovered  in  the  dolomitic  con. 
glomerate,  on  Durdham  Down,  near  Bristol. 


132  FOSSIL  SAURIANS. 

our  planet,  we  cannot  but  regard  with  feelings  of  new  and 
unusual  interest,  the  comparatively  diminutive  existing 
orders  of  that  most  ancient  family  of  quadrupeds,  with  the 
very  name  of  which  we  usually  associate  a  sentiment  of 
disgust.  We  shall  view  them  with  less  contempt,  when  we 
learn  from  the  records  of  geological  history,  that  there  was 
a  time  when  reptiles  not  only  constituted  the  chief  tenants 
and  most  powerful  possessors  of  the  earth,  but  extended  their 
dominion  also  over  the  waters  of  the  seas ;  and  that  the  an- 
nals of  their  history  may  be  traced  back  through  thousands 
of  years,  antecedent  to  that  latest  point  in  the  progressive 
stages  of  animal  creation,  when  the  first  parents  of  the  hu- 
man race  were  called  into  existence. 

Persons  to  whom  this  subject  may  now  be  presented  for 
the  first  time,  will  receive,  with  much  surprise,  perhaps, 
almost  with  incredulity,  such  statements  as  are  here  ad- 
vanced. It  must  be  admitted,  that  they  at  first  seem  much 
more  like  the  dreams  of  fiction  and  romance,  than  the  sober 
results  of  calm  and  deliberate  investigation ;  but  to  those 
who  will  examine  the  evidence  of  facts  upon  which  our 
conclusions  rest,  there  can  remain  no  more  reasonable 
■doubt  of  the  former  existence  of  these  strange  and  curious 
creatures,  in  the  times  and  places  we  assign  to  them  ;  than 
is  felt  by  the  antiquary,  who,  finding  the  catacombs  of 
Egypt  stored  with  the  mummies  of  Men,  and  Apes,  and 
Crocodiles,  concludes  them  to  be  the  remains  of  mammalia 
and  reptiles,  that  have  formed  part  of  an  ancient  population 
on  the  banks  of  the  Nile. 


ICHTHYOSAURUS.  133 


SECTION  IV. 


ICHTHYOSAURUS. 


Nearly  at  the  head  of  the  surprising  discoveries,  which 
have  been  made  relating  to  the  family  of  Saurians,  we  may 
rank  the  remains  of  many  extraordinary  species,  which 
inhabited  the  sea;  and  which  present  almost  incredible 
combinations  of  form,  and  structure;  adapting  them  for 
modes  of  Ufe  that  do  not  occur  among  living  reptiles.  These 
remains  are  most  abundant  throughout  the  lias  and  oolite 
formations  of  the  secondary  series.*  In  these  deposites  we 
find  not  only  animals  aUied  to  Crocodiles,  and  nearly  ap- 
proaching to  the  Gavial  of  the  Ganges ;  but  also  still  more 
numerous  gigantic  Lizards,  that  inhabited  the  then  existing 
seas  and  estuaries. 

Some  of  the  most  remarkable  of  these  reptiles  have  been 
arranged  under  the  genus  Ichthyosaurus,  (or  Fish  T-izard,) 
in  consequence  of  the  partial  resemblance  of  their  vertebrae 
to  those  of  fishes.  (See  Plate  1,  Fig.  51,  and  Plates  7, 8,  9.) 
If  we  examine  these  creatures  with  a  view  to  their  capa- 
bilities of  locomotion,  and  the  means  of  offence  and  defence 
which  their  extraordinary  structure  aflforded  to  them ;  we 
shall  find  combinations  of  form  and  mechanical  contrivances 

*  The  chief  repository  in  which  these  animals  have  been  found  is  the 
lias,  at  Lyme  Regis ;  but  they  abound  also  along  the  whole  extent  of  this 
formation  throughout  England,  e.  g.  from  the  coast  of  Dorset,  through 
Somerset  and  Leicestershire,  to  the  coast  of  Yorkshire :  they  are  found 
also  in  the  lias  of  Germany  and  France.  The  range  of  the  genus  Ich- 
thyosaurus seems  to  have  begun  with  the  Muschelkalk,  and  to  have  ex- 
tended through  the  whole  of  the  oolitic  period  into  the  cretaceous  for- 
mation. The  most  recent  stratum  in  which  any  remains  of  this  genus 
have  yet  been  found  is  the  chalk  marl  at  Dover,  where  they  have  been 
discovered  by  Mr.  Mantell :  I  have  found  them  in  the  gault,  near  Benson, 
Oxon. 

VOL.  I. 12 


134  MARINE  SAURIANS. 

which  are  now  dispersed  through  various  classes  and  orders 
of  existing  animals,  but  are  no  longer  united  in  the  same 
genus.  Thus,  in  the  same  individual,  the  snout  of  a  Porpoise 
is  combined  with  the  teeth  of  a  crocodile,  the  head  i^f  a 
Lizard  with  the  Vertebrae  of  a  fish,  and  the  sternum  of  an 
Ornithorhynchus  with  the  paddles  of  a  whale.  The  gene- 
ral outline  of  an  Ichthyosaurus  must  have  most  nearly  re- 
sembled the  modern  Porpoise,  and  Grampus.  It  had  four 
broad  feet,  or  paddles,  (PI.  7,)  and  terminated  behind  in  a 
long  and  powerful  tail.  Some  of  the  largest  of  these  rep- 
tiles must  have  exceeded  thirty  feet  in  length. 

There  are  seven  or  eight  known  species  of  the  genus 
Ichthyosaurus,  all  agreeing  with  one  another  in  the  general 
principles  of  their  construction,  and  the  possession  of  those 
peculiar  organs,  in  which  I  shall  endeavour  to  point  out  the 
presence  of  mechanism  and  contrivance,  adapted  to  their 
habits  and  state  of  life.  As  it  will  be  foreign  to  our  purpose 
to  enter  on  details  respecting  species,  I  shall  content  myself 
with  referring  to  the  figures  of  the  four  most  common  forms 
(Plates  7,  8,  9.) 

*  PI.  7,  is  a  large  and  nearly  perfect  specimen  of  the  Ichthyosaurus 
Platyodon,  from  the  lias  at  Lyme  Regis,  being  one  of  the  splendid  series 
of  Saurians,  purchased  in  1834  of  Mr.  Hawkins  by  the  British  Museum. 
Portions  of  the  paddles,  and  many  lost  fragments,  are  restored  from  the 
corresponding  parts  which  are  preserved;  a  few  vertebrae,  and  the  extremity 
of  the  tail  are  also  restored  conjecturally.  Beautiful  and  accurate  litho- 
graphed figures  of  this  specimen,  and  of  the  greater  part  of  this  collection , 
are  published  in  Mr.  Hawkins's  Memoirs  of  Ichthyosauri  and  Plesiosauri, 
London,  1834.  PI.  8.  Fig.  1,  is  a  small  specimen  of  the  Ichthyosaurus 
Communis,  from  the  lias  at  Lyme  Regis,  belonging  to  the  Geol,  Soc.  of  Lon* 
don.  PI.  8,  Fig.  2,  a  small  Ichthyosaurus  Intcrmedius,  from  the  lias  at 
Lyme  Regis  belonging  to  Sir  Astley  Cooper.  PI.  9,  Fig,  1,  an  Ichchyosau. 
rus  Tenuirostris,  from  the  lias  of  Street,  near  Glastonbury,  in  the  collection 
of  Rev.  D.  Williams.  Fig.  2  is  the  continuation  of  the  tail,  and  Fig.  3,  tlie 
reverse  of  the  head.  The  teeth  in  this  species  arc  small,  and  in  due  propor- 
tion to  the  slender  character  of  the  snout. 


ICHTHYOSAURUS.  135 


Head. 


The  head,  which  in  all  animals  forms  the  most  important 
and  characteristic  part,  (see  PL  10,  Figs.  1,2,)  at  once  shows 
that  the  Ichthyosauri  were  Reptiles,  partaking  partly  of  the 
characters  of  the  modern  Crocodiles,  but  more  allied  to 
Lizards.  They  approach  nearest  to  Crocodiles  in  the  form 
and  arrangement  of  their  teeth.  The  position  of  the  nostril 
is  not,  as  in  Crocodiles,  near  the  point  of  the  snout;  it  is  set, 
as  in  Lizards,  near  the  anterior  angle  of  the  orbit  of  the  eye. 
The  most  extraordinary  feature  of  the  head,  is  the  enormous 
magnitude  of  the  eye,  very  much  exceeding  that  of  any 
living  animal.*  The  expansion  of  the  jaws  must  have  been 
prodigious;  their  length  in  the  larger  species,  (Ichthyosaurus 
Platyodon,)  sometimes  exceeding  six  feet ;  the  voracity  of 
the  animal  was  doubtless  in  proportion  to  its  powers  of  de- 
struction.    The  neck  was  short,  as  in  fishes. 

Teeth. 

The  teeth  of  the  Ichthyosaurus  (PI.  11,  b,  c,)  are  conical, 
and  much  like  those  of  the  Crocodiles,  but  considerably 
more  numerous,  amounting  in  some  cases  to  a  hundred  and 
eighty ;  they  vary  in  each  species ;  they  are  not  enclosed  in 
deep  and  separate  sockets,  as  the  teeth  of  Crocodiles,  but  are 
ranged  in  one  long  continuous  furrow,  (PI.  11,  b,  c,)  of  the 
maxillary  bone,  in  which  the  rudiments  of  a  separation  into 
distinct  alveoli  may  be  traced  in  slight  ridges  extending  be- 
tween the  teeth,  along  the  sides  and  bottom  of  the  furrow. 
The  contrivance  by  which  the  new  tooth  replaces  the  old 
one,  is  very  nearly  the  same  in  the  Ichthyosauri  as  in  the 
Crocodiles  (PI.  11,  a,  b,  c;)  in  both,  the  young  tooth  begins 
its  growth  at  the  base  of  the  old  tooth,  where,  by  pressure 

*  In  the  collection  of  Mr.  Johnson,  at  Bristol,  is  a  skull  of  Ichthyosaurus 
Platyodon,  in  which  the  longer  diameter  of  the  orbital  cavity  measures  four- 
teen inches. 


136  MARINE  SAURIANS. 

on  one  side  it  causes  first  a  partial  absorption  of  the  base, 
and  finally  a  total  removal  of  the  body  of  the  older  tooth, 
which  it  is  destined  to  replace.* 

As  the  predaceous  habits  of  the  Ichthyosauri  exposed 
them,  like  modern  Crocodiles,  to  frequent  loss  of  their  teeth, 
an  abundant  provision  has  in  each  case  been  made  for  their 
continual  renewal. 


Eyes. 

The  enormous  magnitude  of  the  eye  of  the  Ichthyosaurus 
(PI.  10,  Fig.  1,  2,)  is  among  the  most  remarkable  pecuUari- 
ties  in  the  structure  of  this  animal.  From  the  quantity  of 
light  admitted  in  consequence  of  its  prodigious  size,  it  must 
have  possessed  very  great  powers  of  vision ;  we  have  also 
evidence  that  it  had  both  microscopic  and  telescopic  proper- 
ties. We  find  on  the  front  of  the  orbital  cavity  in  which 
this  eye  was  lodged,  a  circular  series  of  petrified  thin  bony 
plates,  ranged  around  a  central  aperture,  where  once  was 
placed  the  pupil ;  the  form  and  thickness  of  each  of  these 
plates  very  much  resembles  that  of  the  scales  of  an  artichoke 
(PI.  10,  Fig.  3.)  This  compound  circle  of  bony  plates,  does 
not  occur  in  fishes ;  but  is  found  in  the  eyes  of  many  birds.f 

*  In  PI.  11.  Fig'.  A,  shows  the  manner  in  which  the  older  tooth  in  the  Croco- 
dile becomes  absorbed,  by  pressure  of  a  younger  tooth  rising  within  the  ca- 
vity of  its  hollow  base.  Fig.  c,  represents  a  transverse  section  of  the  left 
side  of  the  lower  jaw  of  an  Ichthyosaurus,  showing  two  teeth  in  their  natu- 
ral place,  within  the  farrows  of  tlic  jaw ;  the  younger  tooth,  by  lateral  pres- 
sure, has  caused  absorption  of  the  inside  portion  of  the  base  of  the  older  tooth. 
Fig,  B,  represents  a  transverse  section  of  the  entire  snout  of  an  Ichthyosau- 
rus, in  which  the  lower  jaw  exhibits  on  both  sides,  a  small  tooth  (a)  which 
has  caused  partial  absorption  of  the  base  of  the  larger  tooth  (c.)  In  the 
upper  jaw,  the  bases  of  two  large  teeth  (d,  d,)  are  seen  in  their  respective 
furrows. 

t  The  bony   sclerotic  of  the  Iclithyosaurus   approaclies   to  the  form  of 
the  bony  circle  in  the  eye  of  tiie  Golden  Eagle  (PI.  10,  Fig.  5;)  one  of  its 
uses  in  each  case  being  to  vary  the  sphere  of  distinct  vision,  in  order  ta 
descry   their   prey  at   long    or    short  distances.    These    bony  plates  alsa 


ICHTHYOSAURUS.  137 

as  well  as  of  Turtles,  Tortoises,  and  Lizards;  and  in  a  less 
degree  in  Crocodiles.     (PI.  10.  Figs.  4,  5,  6.) 

In  living  animals  these  bony  plates  are  fixed  in  the  exterior 
or  sclerotic  coat  of  the  eye,  and  vary  its  scope  of  action,  by 
altering  the  convexity  of  the  cornea:  by  their  retraction 
they  press  forward  the  front  of  the  eye  and  convert  it  into  a 
microscope;  in  resuming  their  position,  when  the  eye  is  at 
rest,  they  convert  it  into  a  telescope.  The  soft  parts  of  the 
eyes  of  the  Ichthyosauri  have  of  course  entirely  perished ; 
but  the  preservation  of  this  curiously  constructed  hoop  of 
bony  plates,  shows  that  the  enormous  eye,  of  which  they 
formed  the  front,  was  an  optical  instrument  of  varied  and 
prodigious  power,  enabling  the  Ichthyosaurus  to  descry  its 
prey  at  great  or  little  distances,  in  the  obscurity  of  night, 
and  in  the  depths  of  the  sea ;  it  also  tends  to  associate  the 
animal,  in  which  it  existed,  with  the  family  of  Lizards,  and 
exclude  it  from  that  of  fishes.* 

A  farther  advantage  resulting  from  this  curious  appara- 

assist  to  maintain  the  prominent  position  of  the  front  of  the  eye,  which  is  so 
remarkable  in  birds.  In  Owls,  wliose  nocturnal  liabits  render  distant  vision 
impossible,  Mr.  Yarrel  observes,  that  the  bony  circle  (PI.  10,  Fig.  4,)  is  con- 
cave, and  elongated  forwards,  so  that  the  front  of  the  eye  is  placed  at  the 
end  of  a  long  tube,  and  thus  projects  beyond  tlie  loose  and  downy  feathers  of 
the  head;  he  adds;  "The  extent  of  vision  enjoyed  by  the  Falcons  is  proba- 
bly denied  to  the  Owls,  but  their  more  spherical  lens  and  corresponding 
cornea  give  them  an  intensity  better  suited  to  the  opacity  of  the  medium  in 
whiclj^they  are  required  to  exercise  this  power.  They  may  be  compared 
to  a  person  nearsighted,  who  sees  objects  with  superior  magnitude  and  bril- 
liancy when  within  the  prescribed  limits  of  his  natural  powers  of  vision,  from 
the  increased  angle  these  objects  subtend."  Yarrel  on  the  Anatomy  of 
Birds  of  Prey,  Zool.  Journal,  v.  3,  p.  188. 

•  There  are  analogous  contrivances  for  the  purpose  of  resisting  pressure, 
and  maintaining  the  form  of  the  eye  in  fishes,  by  the  partial  or  total  ossifica- 
tion of  the  exterior  capsule;  but  in  fishes,  this  ossification  is  usually  simple, 
though  carried  to  a  different  extent  in  difiTerent  species;  and  the  bone  is 
never  divided  transversely  into  many  plates,  as  in  Lizards,  and  Birds;  thesa 
capsules  of  the  eye  are  often  preserved  in  the  heads  of  fossil  fishes:  they 
j^bound  in  the  London  clay;  and  occasionally  occur  in  chalk. 

12* 


138  MARINE  SAURIANS. 

tus  of  bony  plates,  was  to  give  strength  to  the  surface  of  so 
large  an  eye-ball,  enabling  it  the  better  to  resist  the  pressure 
of  deep  water,  to  which  it  must  often  have  been  exposed;  it 
would  also  have  protected  this  important  organ  from  injury 
by  the  waves  of  the  sea,  to  which  an  eye,  sometimes  larger 
than  a  man's  head,  must  frequently  have  been  subject,  when 
the  nose  was  brought  to  the  surface,  for  the  necessary  pur- 
pose of  breathing  air :  the  position  of  the  nostrils,  close  to 
the  anterior  angle  of  the  eye,  rendered  it  impossible  for  the 
Ichthyosaurus  to  breathe  without  raising  its  eye  to  the  sur- 
face of  the  water. 

Jaws, 

The  Jaws  of  the  Ichthyosauri,  like  those  of  Crocodiles 
and  Lizards,  which  are  all  more  or  less  elongated  into  pro- 
jecting beaks,  are  composed  of  many  thin  plates,  so  arranged 
as  to  combine  strength  with  elasticity  and  lightness,  in  a 
greater  degree  than  could  have  been  effected  by  single  bones, 
like  those  in  the  jaws  of  Mammalia.  It  is  obvious  that  an 
under  jaw  so  slender,  and  so  much  elongated  as  that  of  a 
Crocodile  or  Ichthyosaurus,  and  employed  in  seizing  and  re- 
taining the  large  and  powerful  animals  which  formed  their 
prey,  would  have  been  comparatively  weak  and  liable  to 
fracture  if  composed  of  a  single  bone.  Each  side  of  the 
lower  jaw  was  therefore  made  up  of  six  separate  pieces,  set 
together  in  a  manner  that  will  be  best  understood  by  refer- 
ence to  the  Figures  in  PI.  1 1  .* 

*  These  figures  are  selected  from  various  plates  by  Mr.  Conybeare  and 
Mr.  De  la  Beche.  Fig.  1  is  a  restoration  of  the  entire  bead  of  an  Iclitiiy- 
osaurus,  in  which  each  component  bone  is  designated  by  the  letters  ap- 
propriated by  Cuvier  to  the  equivalent  bones  in  the  head  of  the  Croco- 
dile. In  the  lower  jaw,  u,  marks  the  dental  bone;  v,  the  angular  bone; 
X,  superangidar  or  coronoid ;  y,  articular  bone ;  z,  complimentary;  4-, 
cperculai'.     Fig.  2,  is  part  of  an  under  jaw  of  an  Ichthyosaurus,  showing 


ICHTHYOSAURUS.  139 

This  contrivance  in  the  lower  jaw,  to  combine  the  great- 
est elasticity  and  strength  with  the  smallest  weight  of  mate- 
rials, is  similar  to  that  adopted  in  binding  together  several 
parallel  plates  of  elastic  wood,  or  steel,  to  make  a  cross- 
bow ;  and  also  in  setting  together  thin  plates  of  steel  in  the 
springs  of  carriages.  As  in  the  carriage  spring,  or  com- 
pound bow,  so  also  in  the  compound  jaw  of  the  Ichthyosau- 
rus, the  plates  are  most  numerous  and  strong,  at  the  parts 
where  the  greatest  strength  is  required  to  be  exerted  ;  and 
are  thinner  and  fewer  towards  the  extremities,  where  the 
service  to  be  performed  is  less  severe.  Those  who  have 
witnessed  the  shock  given  to  the  head  of  a  Crocodile,  by 
the  act  of  snapping  together  its  thin  long  jaws,  must  have 
seen  how  liable  to  fracture  the  lower  jaw  would  be,  were  it 
composed  of  one  bone  only  on  each  side :  a  similar  inconve- 
nience would  have  attended  the  same  simplicity  of  structure 
in  the  jaw  of  the  Ichthyosaurus.  In  each  case,  therefore, 
the  splicing  and  bracing  together  of  six  thin  flat  bones  of 
unequal  length,  and  of  varying  thickness,  on  both  sides  of 
the  lower  jaw,  affords  compensation  for  the  weakness  and 
risk  of  fracture,  that  would  otherwise  have  attended  the 
elongation  of  the  snout. 

Mr.  Conybeare  points  out  a  farther  beautiful  contrivance 
in  the  lower  jaw  of  the  Ichthyosaurus,  analogous  to  the 
cross  bracings  lately  introduced  in  naval  architecture,  (see 
PI.  11,  Fig.  2.*) 

the  manner  in  which  the  fiat  bones,  v,  x,  u,  are  applied  to  each  other, 
towards  the  posterior  part  of  the  jaw.  Figs.  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  show  the  man- 
ner in  which  these  bones  overlap,  and  lock  into  each  other,  at  the  trans, 
verse  sections,  indicated  by  the  lines  immediately  above  them  in  Fig.  2. 
Fig.  8,  shows  the  composition  of  the  bones  in  the  lower  jaw,  as  seen  from 
beneath. 

♦  The  coronoid  bone,  (x)  is  interposed  between  the  dental,  (u,)  and 
opercular^(&.,)  its  fibres  have  a  slanting  direction,  whilst  those  of  the  two 
latter  bones  are  disposed  horizontally ;  thus,  the  strength  of  the  part  is 
greatly  increased  by  a  regular  diagonal  bracing,  without  tlie   least  addi- 


140  MARINE    SAURIANS. 


VertehrcB. 


The  vertebral  column  in  the  Ichtiiyosaurus  was  composed 
of  more  than  one  hundred  joints ;  and  although  united  to  a. 
head  nearly  resembling  that  of  a  Lizard,  assumed,  in  the 
leading  principles  of  its  construction,  the  character  of  the 
vertebras  of  fishes.  As  this  animal  was  constructed  for  ra- 
pid motion  through  the  sea,  the  mechanism  of  hollow  verte- 
brae, which  gives  facility  of  movement  in  water  to  fishes, 
was  better  calculated  for  its  functions  than  the  solid  verte- 
brae of  Lizards  and  Crocodiles.*  (See  Plate  12,  a.  and  b.) 
This  hollow  conical  form  would  be  inapplicable  to  the  ver- 
tebrae of  land  quadrupeds,  whose  back,  being  nearly  at  right 
angles  to  the  legs,  requires  a  succession  of  broad  and  nearly 
flat  surfaces,  which  press  with  considerable  weight  against 
each  oth^r.  It  is  quite  certain,  therefore,  that  such  large 
and  bulky  creatures  as  the  Ichthyosauri,  having  their  verte- 

tion  of  weight  or  bulk;  a  similar  structure  may  be  noticed  in  the  over- 
lapping bones  of  the  heads  of  fish,  and  in  a  less  degree,  in  those  of  Turtles. — ., 
Geol.  Trans.  Lend.  Vol.  V.  p.  565,  and  VoLI.  N.  S.  p.  112. 

*  The  sections  of  the  vertehrfB  of  a  fish  (A  c.  c.)  present  two  hollow 
cones,  united  at  their  apex  in  the  centre  of  each  vertebra,  in  the  form 
of  an  hour-glass;  but-  the  base  of  each  cone,  (b.  b.)  instead  of  termi- 
nating in  a  broad  flat  surface,  like  the  base  of  the  hour-glass,  is  bounded  by  a 
thin  edge,  like  the  edge  of  a  wine-glass,  and  by  this  alone  touches  the 
corresponding  edge  of  the  adjacent  vertebra.  Between  these  hollow 
vertebrae,  a  soft  and  flexible  intervertebral  substance,  in  the  form  of  a 
double  solid  cone  (e.  e.)  is  so  placed  that  each  hollow  cone  of  bone  plays 
on  the  cone  of  elastic  substance  contained  within  it,  with  a  motion  in 
every  direction;  thus  forming  a  kind  of  universal  joint,  and,  giving  to  the 
entire  cohimn  great  strength,  and  power  of  rapid  flexion  in  the  water. 
But  as  the  inflections  in  the  perpendicular  direction  arc  less  necessary 
than  in  the  lateral,  they  are  limited  by  the  overlapping,  or  contiguity  of  the 
spines. 

This  mode  of  articulation  gives  mechanical  advantage  to  animals  like 
fishes,  whose  chief  organ  of  progressive  motion  is  the  tail ;  and  the  weight  of 
whose  bodies  being  always  suspended  in  water,  creates  little  or  no  pressure, 
on  the  edges,  by  wliich  alone  the  vertcbjx  touch  each  other. 


ICHTHYOSAURUS.  141 

braa  constructed  after  the  manner  of  fishes,  had  they  been 
furnished  with  legs  instead  of  paddles,  could  not  have  moved 
on  land  without  injury  to  their  backs.* 

Ribs. 

The  ribs  were  slender,  and  most  of  them  bifurcated  at 
the  top :  they  were  also  continuous  along  the  whole  verte- 
bral column,  from  the  head  to  the  pelvis,  (see  Plates  7,  8, 
9 ;)  and  in  this  respect  agree  with  the  structure  of  modern 
Lizards.  A  considerable  number  of  them  were  united  in 
front  across  the  chest :  their  mode  of  articulation  may  be 
seen  in  PI.  14.  The  ribs  of  the  right  side  were  united  to 
those  of  the  left,  by  intermediate  bones,  analogous  to  the 
cartilaginous  intermediate  and  sternal  portions  of  the  ribs 
in  Crocodiles;  and  to  the  bones  which,  in  the  Plesiosaurus, 
form  what  Mr.  Conybeare  has  called  the  sterno-costal  arcs. 
(See  PI.  17.)  This  structure  was  probably  subservient  to 
the  purpose  of  introducing  to  their  bodies  an  unusual  quan- 
tity of  air ;  the  animal  by  this  means  being  enabled  to  re- 
main long  beneath  the  water,  without  rising  to  the  surface 
for  the  purpose  of  breathing.f 

*  Sir  E.  Home  has  farther  remarked  a  peculiarity  of  the  spinal  canal, 
which  exists  in  no  other  animals  ;  the  annular  part  (PI.  12,  D  a.  and  E  a.) 
being  neither  consolidated  with  the  body  of  the  vertebra,  as  in  quadrupeds  ; 
nor  connected  by  a  suture,  as  in  Crocodiles ;  but  remaining  always  distinct, 
and  articulating  by  a  peculiar  joint,  resembling  a  compressed  oval  ball  and 
socket  joint,  (D  g.  and  E  g.)  And  Mr.  Conybeare  adds,  that  this  mode  of 
articulation  co-operates  with  the  cup-shaped  form  of  the  intervertebral  joints, 
in  giving  flexibility  to  the  vertebral  column,  and  assisting  its  virbratory 
motions;  for,  had  these  parts  been  consolidated,  as  in  quadrupeds,  their 
articulating  processes  must  have  locked  the  whole  column  together,  so  as  to 
render  such  a  motion  of  its  parts  impossible;  but  by  means  of  this  joint  every 
part  yields  to  that  motion.  The  tubercle  by  which  the  transverse  apophysis 
of  the  head  of  the  rib  articulates  with  the  vertebra,  is  seen  at  d. 

+  The  sterno-costal  ribs  probably  formed  part  of  a  condensing  apparatus, 
which  gave  these  animals  the  power  of  compressing  the  air  within  its  lungs. 


142  MARINE  SAUUIANS. 


Sternum. 


To  a  marine  animal  that  breathed  air,  it  was  essential' 
to  possess  an  apparatus  whereby  its  ascent  and  descent  in 
the  water  may  have  been  easily  accomplished;  accordingly 
we  find  such  an  apparatus,  constructed  with  prodigious 
strength,  in  the  anterior  paddles  of  the  Ichthyosaurus ;  and 
in  the  no  less  extraordinary  combination  of  bones  that 
formed  the  sternal  arch,  or  that  part  of  the  chest,  on  which 
these  paddles  rested.     PI.  12,  Fig.  1. 

It  is  a  curious  fact,  that  the  bones  composing  the  sternal 
arch  are  combined  nearly  in  the  same  manner  as  in  the 
Ornithorhynchus*  of  New  Holland;  which  seeks  its  food 

before  they  descended  beneath  tlie  water.  In  the  Lond.  and  Edin.  PhiL 
Mag^.  Oct.  1833,  Mr.  Faraday  has  noticed  a  method  of  preparing;  the  organs 
of  respiration  in  man,  so  as  considerably  to  extend  the  time  of  holdings  the 
breath  in  an  impure  atmosphere;  or  under  water,  as  practised^by  pearl-fishers, 
and  illustrated  by  experiments  of  Sir  Graves  C.  Houghton.  If  a  person  in- 
spires deeply,  and  ceasing  with  his  lungs  full  of  air,  holds  his  breath  as  long 
as  he  is  able,  the  time  during  which  he  can  remain  without  breathing  will 
be  double,  or  more  than  double,  that  which  he  could  do  if  he  held  his  breath 
without  such  deep  inspiration.  When  Mr.  Brunei,  jun.  and  Mr,  Gravatt 
descended  into  a  diving-bell  to  examine  the  hole  where  the  Thames  had 
broken  into  the  tunnel  at  Rotherhithe,  at  the  depth  of  about  thirty  feet  of 
water,  Mr,  Brunei,  having  inspired  deeply  the  compressed  air  within  the 
diving-bell,  descended  into  the  water  below  the  bell ;  and  found  that  he  could 
remain  twice  as  long  under  water,  going  into  it  from  the  diving-bell,  at  that 
depth,  as  he  could  under  ordinary  circumstances. 

Mr.  Gravatt  has  also  informed  me  that  he  is  able  to  dive  and  remain  three 
minutes  under  water,  after  inflating  his  lungs  with  the  largest  possible  quan- 
tityof  common  air,  by  a  succession  of  strong  and  rapid  inspirations,  and  im- 
mediately compressing  the  lungs  thus  filled  with  air,  by  muscular  exertion, 
and  contraction  of  the  chest,  before  he  plunges  into  the  water.  By  this 
compression  of  the  lungs,  the  specific  gravity  of  the  body  is  also  increased, 
and  the  descent  is  consequently  much  facilitated. 

All  these  advantages  were  probably  united  in  the  mode  of  respiration  of 
the  Ichthyosaurus,  and  also  in  the  Plesiosaurus,. 

*  In  this  anomalous  animal  the  Ornithorhynchus  or  Platypus,  we  havo 


ICHTHYOSAURUS.  143 

at  the  bottom  of  lakes  and  rivers,  and  is  obliged,  like  the 
Ichthyosaurus,  to  be  continually  rising  to  the  surface  to 
breathe  air.* 

Here  then  we  have  a  race  of  animals  that  became  extinct 
at  the  termination  of  the  secondary  series  of  geological  for- 
mations, presenting,  in  their  structure,  a  series  of  contri- 
vances, the  same  in  principle,  with  those  employed  at  the 
present  day  to  effect  a  similar  purpose  in  one  of  the  most 
curiously  constructed  aquatic  quadrupeds  of  New  Holland.f 

Paddles: 

In  the  form  of  its  extremities,  the  Ichthyosaurus  deviates 
from  the   Lizards,  and  approaches  the  Whales.     A  large 

a  quadruped  clothed  with  fur,  having  a  bill  like  a  duck,  with  four  webbed 
feet,  suckling  its  young,  and  most  properly  ovoviviparous :  the  male  is  fur- 
nished with  spurs. — See  Mr.  tR.  Owen's  Papers  on  the  Ornithorhynchus 
Paradoxus,  in  the  Phil.  Trans.  London,  1832,  Part  11.  and  1834,  Part  II. 
See  also  Mr.  Owen's  Paper  on  the  same  subject  in  Trans.  Zool.  Soc.  Lond. 
Part  III.  1835,  in  which  he  points  out  many  approximations  in  the  gene- 
rative and  other  systems  of  this  animal  to  the  organization  of  reptiles. 

*  In  both  these  animals  there  is  superadded  to  the  ordinary  type  of  bones 
in  quadrupeds,  an  enlargement  of  the  coracoid  bone  (c,)  and  a  peculiar 
form  of  sternum,  resembling  the  furcula  of  birds.  In  PI.  12,  Fig.  1,  a.  re- 
presents the  peculiar  sternum  or  furcula;  b.  b.  the  clavicles  ;  c.  c.  the  cora- 
coid bones:  d.  d.  the  scapulae;  e.  e.  the  humeri ;  f.  g.  the  radius  and  ulna. 
At  Fig.  2,  the  same  letters  are  attached  to  the  corresponding  bones  of  the 
Ornithorhynchus, 

The  united  power  of  all  these  bones  imparts  to  the  chest  and  paddles  pecu- 
liar strength  for  an  unusual  purpose ;  not  so  much  to  effect  progressive  mo- 
tion (which,  in  the  Ichthyosaurus,  was  produced  with  much  greater  facility 
and  power  by  the  tail,)  as  to  ascend  and  descend  vertically  in  quest  of  air 
and  food. 

t  The  Echidna,  or  spiny  Ant-eater,  of  New  Holland,  is  the  only  known 
land  quadruped  that  has  a  similar  furcula  and  clavicles.  As  this  animal 
feeds  on  Ants,  and  takes  refuge  in  deep  burrows,  this  structure  may  be 
subsidiary  to  its  great  power  of  digging.  A  cartilaginous  rudiment  of  a 
furcula  occurs  also  in  the  Dasypus;  and  seems  subservient  to  the  same 
purpose. 


144  MARINE  SAURIANS. 

animal,  moving  rapidly  through  the  sea,  and  breathing  air, 
must  have  required  great  modification  of  the  fore-leg  and 
foot  of  the  Lizard,  to  fit  it  for  such  cetaceous  habits.  The 
extremities  were  to  be  converted  into  fins  instead  of  feet, 
and  as  such  we  shall  find  them  to  combine  even  a  still 
greater  union  of  elasticity  with  strength,  than  is  presented 
by  the  fin  or  paddle  of  the  Whale.  Plate  12,  Fig.  1,  shows 
the  short  and  strong  bones  of  the  arm  (e,)  and  those  of  the 
fore-arm  (f,  g ;)  and  beyond  these  the  series  of  polygonal 
bones  that  made  up  the  phalanges  of  the  fingers.  These 
polygonal  bones  vary  in  number  in  different  species,  in  some 
exceeding  one  hundred ;  they  differ  also  in  form  from  the 
phalanges  both  of  Lizards  and  Whales ;  and  derive,  from 
their  increase  of  number,  and  change  of  dimensions,  an 
increase  of  elasticity  and  power.  The  arm  and  hand  thus 
converted  into  an  elastic  oar  or  paddle,  when  covered  with 
skin,  must  have  much  resembled  externally  the  undivided 
paddle  of  a  Porpoise  or  Whale.  The  position  also  of  the 
paddles  on  the  anterior  part  of  the  body  was  nearly  the 
same;  to  these  were  superadded  posterior  extremities,  or 
hind  fins,  which  are  wanting  in  the  cetacea,  and  which 
possibly  make  compensation  for  the  absence  of  their  flat 
horizontal  tail :  these  hind  paddles  in  the  Ichthyosaurus  are 
nearly  by  one  half  smaller  than  the  anterior  paddles.* 

Mr.  Conybeare  remarks,  with  his  usual  acumen,  that 
"  the  reasons  of  this  variation  from  the  proportions  of  the 
posterior  extremities  of  quadrupeds  in  general,  are  the  same 
which  lead  to  a  similar  diminution  of  the  analogous  parts  in 
Seals,  and  their  total  disappearance  in  the  cetacea,  namely, 
the  necessity  of  placing  the  centre  of  the  organs  of  motion, 
when  acting  laterally,  before  the  centre  of  gravity.  For  the 
same  reason,  the  wings  of  birds  are  placed  in  the  fore  part 
of  their  body,  and  the  centre  of  the  moving  forces  given  to 

*  In  the  Ornithorhynchus,  also,  the  membraneous  expansion,  or  tteb  of 
the  hind  feet,  is  very  much  less  than  that  on  the  fore-foot. 


ICHTHYOSAURUS.  145 

ships  by  their  sails,  and  to  steam-boats  by  their  paddles,  is 
similarly  placed.  The  great  organ  of  motion  in  fishes,  the 
tail,  is  indeed  posteriorly  placed,  but  this  by  its  mode  of  ac- 
tion generates  a  vis  a  tergo,  which  impels  the  animal  straight 
forwards,  and  does  not  therefore  operate  under  the  same 
conditions  with  organs  laterally  applied."  G.  T.  V.  5,  p. 
579. 

I  shall  conclude  this  detailed  review  of  the  pecuUarities 
of  one  of  the  most  curious,  as  well  as  the  most  ancient, 
among  the  many  genera  of  extinct  reptiles  presented  to  us 
by  Geology,  with  a  few  remarks  on  the  final  causes  of 
those  deviations  from  the  normal  structure  of  its  proper 
type,  the  Lizard ;  under  which  the  Ichthyosaurus  combines 
in  itself  the  additional  characters  of  the  fish,  the  Whale,  and 
Ornithorhynchus.  As  the  form  of  vertebra  by  which  it  is 
associated  with  the  class  of  fishes,  seems  to  have  been  in- 
troduced for  the  purpose  of  giving  rapid  motion  in  the  water 
to  a  Lizard  inhabiting  the  element  of  fishes ;  so  the  farther 
adoption  of  a  structure  in  the  legs,  resembling  the  paddles  of 
a  Whale,  was  superadded  in  order  to  convert  these  extremi- 
ties into  powerful  fins.  The  still  farther  addition  of  a  fur- 
cula  and  clavicles,  like  those  of  the  Ornithorhynchus,  oflfers 
a  third  and  not  less  striking  example  of  selection  of  contri- 
vances, to  enable  animals  of  one  class  to  live  in  the  element 
of  another  class. 

If  the  laws  of  co-existence  are  less  rigidly  maintained  in 
the  Ichthyosaurus,  than  in  other  extinct  creatures  which  we 
discover  amid  the  wreck  of  former  creations,  still  these  de- 
viations are  so  far  from  being  fortuitous,  or  evidencing  im- 
perfection, that  they  present  examples  of  perfect  appointment 
and  judicious  choice,  pervading  and  regulating  even  the 
most  apparently  anomalous  aberrations* 

Having  the  vertebra?  of  a  fish,  as  instruments  of  rapid 
progression;  and  the  paddles  of  a  Whale,  and  sternum  of 
an  Ornithorhynchus,  as  instruments  of  elevation  and  depres- 
sion ;  the  reptile  Ichthyosaurus  united  in  itself  a  combination 

VOL.  I. — 13 


146  MARINE  SAURIANS. 

of  mechanical  contrivances,  which  are  now  distributed 
among  three  distinct  classes  of  the  animal  kingdom.  If. 
for  the  purpose  of  producing  vertical  movements  in  the 
water,  the  sternum  of  the  living  Ornithorhynchus  assumes 
forms  and  combinations  that  occur  but  in  one  other  genus 
of  Mammalia,  they  are  the  same  that  co-existed  in  the 
sternum  of  the  Ichthyosaurus  of  the  ancient  world ;  and 
thus,  at  points  of  time,  separated  from  each  other  by  the 
intervention  of  incalculable  ages,  we  find  an  identity  of  ob- 
jects effected  by  instruments  so  similar,  as  to  leaye  no  doubt 
of  the  unity  of  the  design  in  which  they  all  originated. 

It  was  a  necessary  and  peculiar  function  in  the  economy 
of  the  fish-like  Lizard  of  the  ancient  seas,  to  ascend  continu- 
ally to  the  surface  of  the  M^ater  in  order  to  breathe  air,  and 
to  descend  again  in  search  of  food ;  it  is  a  no  less  peculiar 
function  in  the  Duck-billed  Ornithorh3aichus  of  our  own 
days,  to  perform  a  series  of  similar  movements  in  the  lakes 
and  rivers  of  New  Holland. 

The  introduction  to  these  animals,  of  such  aberrations 
from  the  type  of  their  respective  orders  to  accommodate  de- 
viations from  the  usual  habits  of  these  orders,  exhibits  a 
union  of  compensative  contrivances,  so  similar  in  their  rela- 
tions, so  identical  in  their  objects,  and  so  perfect  in  the  adap- 
tation of  each  subordinate  part,  to  the  harmony  and  perfec- 
tion of  the  whole ;  that  we  cannot  but  recognise  throughout 
them  all,  the  workings  of  one  and  the  same  eternal  principle 
of  Wisdom  and  Intelhgence,  presiding  from  first  to  last  over 
the  total  fabric  of  Creation* 


INTESTINAL  STRUCTURE.  147 


SECTION  V. 


INTESTINAL  STRUCTURE  OF  ICHTHYOSAURUS  AND  OF  FOSSIL  FISHES. 

From  the  teeth  and  organs  of  locomotion,  we  come  next 
to  consider  those  of  digestion  in  the  Ichthyosaurus.  If  there 
be  any  point  in  the  structure  of  extinct  fossil  animals,  as  to 
which  it  should  have  seemed  hopeless  to  discover  any  kind 
of  evidence,  it  is  the  form  and  arrangement  of  the  intestinal 
organs ;  since  these  soft  parts,  though  of  prime  importance 
in  the  animal  economy,  yet  being  suspended  freely  within 
the  cavity  of  the  body,  and  unconnected  with  the  skeleton, 
would  leave  no  traces  whatever  upon  the  fossil  bones. 

It  is  impossible  to  have  seen  the  large  apparatus  of  teeth, 
and  strength  of  jaws,  which  we  have  been  examining  in  the 
Ichthyosauri,  without  concluding  that  animals  furnished 
with  such  powerful  instruments  of  destruction,  must  have 
used  them  freely  in  restraining  the  excessive  population  of 
the  ancient  seas.  This  inference  has  been  fully  confirmed 
by  the  recent  discovery  within  their  skeletons,  of  the  half- 
digested  remains  of  fishes  and  reptiles,  which  they  had  de- 
voured, (see  PI.  13,  14,)  and  by  the  farther  discovery  of 
CoproUtes,  (see  PI.  15,)  i.  e.  of  fcecal  remains  in  a  state  of 
petrifaction,  dispersed  through  the  same  strata  in  which 
these  skeletons  are  buried.  The  state  of  preservation  of 
these  very  curious  petrified  bodies  is  often  so  perfect,  as  to 
indicate  not  only  the  food  of  the  animals  from  which  thev 
were  derived,  but  also  the  dimensions,  form,  and  structure 
of  their  stomach,  and  intestinal  canal.* 

*  The  following-    description  of  these  Coprolites,    is  given   in    my  me- 
moir on    this    subject,  published  in    the    Transactions  of  the    Geological 


148  INTESTINAL  STRUCTURE  OF  ICHTHYOSAURUS. 

On  the  shore  at  Lyme  Regis,  these  Coprolites  are  so 
abundant  that  they  lie  in  some  parts  of  the  lias  like  pota- 
toes scattered  in  the  ground ;  still  more  common  are  they 
in  the  lias  of  the  Estuary  of  the  Severn,  where  they  are 

Society    of    London,    1829,    (vol.    iii.    n.    s.    part   i.    p.    224,    with    three 
plates.) 

"  In  variety  of  size  and  external  form,  the  Coprolites  resemble  oblong 
pebbles  or  kidney-potatoes.  They,  for  the  most  part,  vary  from  two  to  four 
inches  in  length,  and  from  one  to  two  inches  in  diameter.  Some  few 
are  much  larger,  and  bear  a  due  proportion  to  the  gigantic  calibre  of  tlie 
iartrest  Ichthyosauri;  others  are  small,  and  bear  a  similar  ratio  to  the  more 
infantine  individuals  of  the  same  speclesj  and  to  small  fishes  :  some  are  flat 
and  amorphous,  as  if  the  substance  had  been  voided  in  a  semifluid  state;  others 
are  flattened  by  pressure  of  the  shale.  Their  usual  colour  is  ash-gray,  some- 
times interspersed  with  black,  and  sometimes  wholly  black.  Their  sub- 
stance is  of  a  compact  earthy  texture,  resembling  indurated  clay,  and 
having  a  conchoidal  and  glossy  fracture.  The  structure  of  the  Coprolites 
at  Lyme  Regis  is  in  most  cases  tortuous,  but  the  number  of  coils  rs  very 
liiiequal ;  the  most  common  number  is  three  :  the  greatest  I  have  seen  is 
six  :  these  variations  may  depend  on  the  various  species  of  animals  froni 
which  they  are  derived;  I  find  analogous  variations  in  the  tortuous  intestines 
of  modern  Skates,  Sharks,  and  Dog-fish.  Some  Coprolites,  especially  the 
small  ones,  show  no  traces  at  all  of  contortion. 

"  The  sections  of  these  fcEcal  balls,  {see  PL  15,  Figs.  4,  and  6,)  show 
uieir  interior  to  be  arranged  in  a  folded  plate,  wrapped  spirally  round  from 
the  centre  outwards,  like  the  whorls  of  a  turbinated  shell ;  their  exterior  also 
retains  the  corrugations  and  minute  impressions,  which,  in  their  plastic 
state,  they  may  have  received  from  the  intestines  of  the  living  animals.  {See 
PL  15,  Figs.  3,  and  10  to  14.)  Dispersed  irregularly  and  abundantly  through- 
out these  petrified  foeces,  are  the  scales,  and  occasionally  the  teeth  and  bones 
of  fishes,  that  seem  to  have  passed  undigested  through  the  bodies  of  the 
Saurians;  just  as  the  enamel  of  teeth  and  sometimes  fragments  of  bone,  arc 
found  undigested  both  in  the  recent  and  fossil  album  grfficum  of  hyjenas. 
These  scales  are  the  hard  bright  scales  of  the  Dapedium  politmn,  and 
other  fishes  which  abound  in  the  lias,  and  which  thus  appear  to  have 
formed  no  small  portion  of  the  food  of  the  Saurians.  The  bones  are  chiefly 
vertebrse  of  fishes  and  of  small  Ichthyosauri ;  the  latter  are  less  frequent 
than  the  bones  of  fishes,  but  still  arc  sufficiently  numerous,  to  show  that 
these  monsters  of  the  ancient  deep,  like  many  of  their  successors  in  our 
modern  oceans,  may  have  devoured  the  small  and  weaker  individuals  of  ihe;.r 
own  species  " 


COPROLITES.,  149 

similarly  disposed  in  strata  of  many  miles  in  extent,  and 
mixed  so  abundantly  with  teeth  and  rolled  fragments  of  the 
bones  of  reptiles  and  fishes,  as  to  show  that  this  region, 
having  been  the  bottom  of  an  ancient  sea,  was  for  a  long 
period  the  receptacle  of  the  bones  and  foscal  remains  of  its 
Inhabitants.  The  occurrence  of  Coprolites  is  not,  however, 
pecuUar  to  the  places  just  mentioned;  they  are  found  in 
greater  or  less  abundance  throughout  the  lias  of  England ; 
they  occur  also  in  strata,  of  all  ages  that  contain  the  re- 
mains of  carnivorous  reptiles,  and  have  been  recognised  in 
many  and  distant  regions  both  of  Europe  and  America.* 

The  certainty  of  the  origin  of  these  Coprolites  is  establish- 
ed by  their  frequent  presence  in  the  abdominal  region  of 
fossil  skeletons  of  Ichthyosauri  found  in  the  lias  of  Lyme 
Regis.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  of  these  is  represented 
in  PI.  13;  the  coprolitic  matter  loaded  with  fish-scales, 
within  the  ribs  of  these  and  similar  specimens,  is  identical 
in  appearance  and  chemical  composition  with  the  insulated 
coprolites  that  occur  in  the  same  strata  with  the  skeletons.f 

*  Professor  Jager  has  recently  discovered  many  Coprolites  in  the  alum 
slate  of  Gaildorf  in  VVirtemberg ;  a  formation  wiiicli  he  considers  to  be  in 
the  lower  region  of  that  part  of  the  new  red  sandstone  formation  which  in 
Germany  is  called  Keupcr  ;  and  which  contains  the  remains  of  two  species 
of  Sauriany. 

In  the  United  States  Dr.  Dekay  has  also  discovered  Coprolites  in  the 
Green-sand  formation  of  Monmouth,  in  New  Jersey,  see  PI.  15,  fig.  13. 

■}•  This  specimen  has  been  presented  by  Viscount  Cole  to  the  Geological 
Collection  of  the  University  of  Oxford.  It  aftbrds  decisive  proof  that  the 
substances  in  question  cannot  be  referred  to  adventitious  matter,  placed 
accidentally  in  contact  with  the  fossil  body,  inasmuch  as  the  large  coprolitic 
mass  is  enclosed  between  the  back  bone  and  the  right  and  left  series  of 
ribs,  of  which  the  greater  number  remain  nearly  in  their  natural  position. 
The  quantity  of  this  coprolite  is  prodigious,  when  compared  with  the  size 
of  the  animal  in  which  it  occurs ;  and  if  we  were  not  acquainted  with  the 
powers  of  the  digestive  organs  of  reptiles  and  fishes,  and  their  capacity  of 
gorging  the  larger  animals  that  form  their  prey  ;  the  great  space  within  these 
fossil  skeletons  of  Ichthyosauri,  which  is  occasionally  filled  with  coprolitic 
matter,  would  appear  inexplicable. 

13* 


150  INTESTINAL    STRUCTURE    OF    ICHTHYOSAURUS. 

The  preservation  of  such  foccal  matter,  and  its  conversion 
to  the  state  of  stone,  result  from  the  imperishable  nature  of 
the  phosphate  of  lime,  of  which  both  bones,  and  the  pro- 
ducts of  digested  bones  are  equally  composed. 

The  skeleton  of  another  Ichthyosaurus  in  the  Oxford 
Museum,  from  the  lias  at  Lyme  Regis,  (PI.  14)  shows  a 
large  mass  of  fish  scales,  chiefly  referable  to  the  Pholido- 
phorus,  limbatus,*  intermixed  with  coprolite  throughout  the 
entire  region  of  the  ribs ;  this  mass  is  overlaid  by  many 
ribs,  and  although,  in  some  degree  perhaps,  extended  by 
pressure,  it  shows  that  the  length  of  the  stomach  was  nearly 
co-extensive  with  the  trunk. 

*  According  to  Professor  Agassiz,  the  scales  of  Pholidophorus  limbatus, 
a.  species  very  frequent  among  the  fossils  of  the  lias,  are  more  abundant 
than  those  of  any  other  fish  in  the  Coprolites  found  in  that  formation  at 
Lyme  Regis;  and  show  that  this  species  was  the  principal  food  of  these 
reptiles.  In  Coprolites  from  the  coal  formation,  near  Edinburgh,  he  has 
also  recognised  the  scales  of  Palseoniscus,  and  of  other  fishes  that  are 
often  found  entire  in  strata  that  accompany  the  coal  of  that  neighbourhood. 
Scales  of  the  Beryx  armatus,  a  fish  discovered  by  Mr.  Mantell,  in  the  chalk, 
occur  in  Coprolites  derived  from  voracious  fishes  during  the  deposition  of 
this  formation. 

A  Coprolite  from  the  lias,  (PI.  15,  Eig.  3,)  remarkable  for  its  spiral 
convolutions,  and  vascular  impressions,  affords  a  striking  example  of  the 
minute  accuracy  vv'ith  which  investigations  are  now  conducted  by  natu- 
ralists, and  of  the  kind  of  evidence  which  comparative  anatomy  contri- 
butes in  aid  of  geological  inquiry.  On  one  side  of  this  Coprolite,  there  is 
a  small  scale,  (Fig.  3,  «,)  wiiich  I  could  only  refer  to  some  unknown  fish, 
of  the  numerous  species  that  occur  in  the  lias.  The  instant  I  showed  it  to 
M.  Agassiz,  he  not  only  pronounced  its  species  to  be  the  Pholidophorus 
limbatus ;  but  at  once  declared  tiic  precise  place  which  tiiis  scAo  had  occu- 
pied upon  the  body  of  the  fish.  A  minute  tube  upon  its  inner  surface, 
(P!.  15,  Fig.  S',)  scarcely  visible  without  a  microscope,  showed  it  to  have 
been  one  of  those  which  form  the  lateral  line  of  perforated  scales,  that 
pass  from  the  head  towards  the  tail,  one  on  each  side  of  every  fish  : 
and  convey  a  tube  for  the  transmission  of  lubricating  mucus  from  glands 
in  the  head,  to  the  extremity  of  the  body.  The  place  of  the  seals  in  this 
line,  had  been  on  the  left  side,  not  far  from  the  head.  Fig.  3",  is  the 
upper  surface  of  a  similar  scale,  showing  at  c  tlie  termination  of  the  mucous 
iuct. 


COPROLITES.  151 

Among  living  voracious  reptiles  we  have  examples  of 
stomachs  equally  capacious;  we  know  that  whole  human 
bodies  have  been  found  within  the  stomachs  of  large  Croco- 
diles; we  know,  also,  from  the  form  of  their  teeth,  that  the 
Ichthyosauri,  like  the  Crocodiles,  must  have  gorged  their 
prey  entire ;  and  when  we  find,  imbedded  in  Coprolites  de- 
rived from  the  larger  Ichthyosauri,  bones  of  smaller  Ich- 
thyosauri,, of  such  dimensions,  (see  PI.  15,  Fig.  18.  And 
Geol.  Trans.  2,  S.  vol.  iii.,  PI.  29,  Figs,  2,  3,  4,  5,)  that  the 
individuals  from  which  they  were  derived,  must  have  mea- 
sured several  feet  in  length ;  we  infer  that  the  stomach  of 
these  animals  formed  a  pouch,  or  sac,  of  prodigious  size,  ex- 
tending through  nearly  the  entire  cavity  of  the  body,  and  of 
capacity  duly  proportioned  to  the  jaws  and  teeth  with  which 
it  co-operated. 

Spiral  Disposition  of  Small  Intestines, 

As  the  more  solid  parts  of  animals  alone,  are  usuallj 
susceptible  of  petrifaction,  we  cannot  demonstrate  by  direct 
evidence  the  form  and  size  of  the  small  intestines  of  the 
Ichthyosauri,  but  the  contents  of  these  viscera  are  preserved 
in  such  perfection  in  a  fossil  state,  as  to  afford  circum- 
stantial evidence  that  the  bowels  in  which  they  were 
moulded,  were  formed  in  a  manner  resembling  the  spiral 
intestines  of  sdme  of  the  swiftest  and  most  voracious  of  our 
modern  fishes. 

We  shall  best  understand  the  structure  of  these  intestines 
by  examining  the  corresponding  organs  of  Sharks  and 
Dog-fish,  animals  not  less  peculiarly  rapacious  among  the 
inhabitants  of  our  modern  seas,  than  the  Ichthyosauri  were 
in  those  early  periods  to  which  our  considerations  are  car- 
ried back.  We  find  in  the  intestines  of  these  fishes,  (see 
PI.  15,  Figs.  1,  and  2,)  and  also  in  those  of  Rays,  an  ar- 
rangement resembhng  that  of  the  interior  of  an  Archimedes 
screw,  admirably  adapted  to  increase  the  extent  of  internal 


152  INTESTINAL  STRUCTURE  OF  ICHTHYOSAURUS. 

surface  for  the  absorption  of  nutriment  from  the  food,  during 
its  passage  through  a  tube  containing  within  it  a  continuous 
spiral  fold,  coiled  in  such  a  manner,  as  to  afford  the  greatest 
possible  extent  of  surface  in  the  smallest  space.  A  simi- 
lar contrivance  is  shown  by  the  Coprolites  to  have  existed  in 
the  Ichthyosaurus.     See  PL  15,  Figs.  3,  4,  6.* 

Impressions  of  the  Mucous  Membrane  on  Coprolites. 
Besides  the  spiral  structure  and  consequent  shortness  of 

*  These  cone-shaped  bodies  are  made  up  of  a  flat  and  continuous  plate  of 
digested  bone  coiled  round  itself  whilst  it  was  yet  in  a  plastic  state.  The  form 
is  nearly  that  which  would  be  assumed  by  a  piece  of  riband,  forced  conti- 
nually forward  into  a  cylindrical  tube,  through  a  long  aperture  in  its  side.  In 
this  case,  the  riband  moving  onwards,  would  form  a  succession  of  involuted 
cones,  colling  one  round  the  other,  and  after  a  certain  numberof  turns  within 
the  cylinder,  (the  apex  moving  continually  downwards,)  these  cones  would 
emerge  from  the  end  of  the  tube  in  a  form  resembling  that  of  the  Coprolites, 
Pi.  15,  Figs.  3,  5,  7,  10,  11,  12,  13,  l^.  In  the  same  manner,  a  lamina  of 
coprolitic  matter  would  be  coiled  up  spirally  into  a  series  of  successive  cones, 
in  the  act  of  passing  from  a  small  spiral  vessel  into  the  adjacent  large  intestine. 
Coprolites  thus  formed  fell  into  soft  mud,  whilst  it  was  accumulating  at  the 
bottom  of  the  sea,  and  together  with  this  mud,  (which  has  subsequently 
been  indurated  into  shale  and  stone,)  they  have  undergone  so  complete  a 
process  of  petrifi^ctlon,  that  in  hardness,  and  beauty  of  the  polish  of  which 
they  are  susceptible,  they  rival  the  qualities  of  ornamental  marble. 

Fig.  6,  shows  a  longitudinal  section  through  the  axis  of  a  coprolite,  from 
the  inferior  chalk,  in  which  this  involute  conical  form  is  well  defined.  Fig. 
4,  is  the  transverse  section  of  anotlicr  Coprolite  from  the  lias,  showing  the 
manner  in  which  the  plate  coils  round  itself,  till  it  terminates  externally  in  a 
broken  edge  (at  b.)  In  all  the  figures  tlie  letter  b,  marks  the  transverse 
section  of  this  plate,  where  it  is  broken  off  near  the  termination  of  its  outer 
coil;  the  sections  at  b,  show  also  the  size  and  form  of  the  flattened  passage 
through  the  interior  of  the  screw. 

A  lamina  of  tenacious  plastic  substance  pressed  continually  forwards  from 
the  interior  of  such  a  screw,  into  the  cavity  of  tlie  large  intestine,  would 
coil  up  spirally  within  it,  until  it  attained  the  largest  size  admitted  by  its  ■ 
diameter;  from  this  coll  successive  portions  would  be  broken  off"  abruptly, 
(at  b,)  and  descending  into  the  cloaca  would  be  thence  discharged  into  the 
sea. 


COPROLITES.  153 

the  small  intestine,  we  have  additional  evidence  to  show 
even  the  form  of  the  minute  vessels  and  folds  of  the  mucous 
membrane,  by  which  it  was  lined.  This  evidence  consists 
in  a  series  of  vascular  impressions  and  corrugations  on  the 
surface  of  the  Coprolite,  which  it  could  only  have  received 
during  its  passage  through  the  w^indings  of  this  flat  tube.* 
Specimens  thus  marked  are  engraved  at  PI.  15,  Figs,  3,  5, 
7,  10,  12,  13,  14. 

If  we  attempt  to  discover  a  final  cause  for  these  curious 
provisions  in  the  bowels  of  the  extinct  reptile  inhabitants  of 
the  seas  of  a  former  world,  we  shall  find  it  to  be  the  same 
that  explains  the  existence  of  a  similar  structure  in  the 
modern  voracious  tribes  of  Sharks  and  Dog-fish.f 

As  the  peculiar  voracity  of  all  these  animals  required  the 
stomach  to  be  both  large  and  long,  there  would  remain  but 
little  space  for  the  smaller  viscera ;  these  are  therefore  re- 
duced, as  we  have  seen,  nearly  to  the  state  of  a  flattened 
tube,  coiled  like  a  corkscrew  around  itself;  their  bulk  is 
thus  materially  diminished,  whilst  the  amount  of  absorbing 

*  These  impressions  cannot  have  been  derived  from  the  membrane  of  the 
inferior  large  intestine,  because  tliey  are  continued  along  those  surfaces  of 
the  inner  coils  of  the  Coprolite,  which  became  permanently  covered  by  its 
outer  coils,  in  the  act  of  passing  from  the  spiral  tube  into  this  large  intes- 
tine. 

t  Paley,  in  his  chapter  on  mechanical  compensations  on  the  structure  of 
animals,  mentions  a  contrivance  similar  to  that  which  we  attribute  to  the 
Ichthyosaurus,  as  existing  in  a  species  of  Shark,  (the  Alopecias,  Squalus 
Vulpes,  or  Sea  Fox.)  "  In  this  animal,  he  says,  the  intestine  is  straight 
from  -one  end  to  the  other  :  but,  in  this  straight,  and  consequently  short  in- 
testine, is  a  winding,  cork-screw,  spiral  passage,  through  which  the  food, 
not  without  several  circumvolutions,  and  in  fact  by  a  long  route,  is  con- 
ducted to  its  exit.  Here  the  shortness  of  the  gut  is  compensated  by  the 
obliquity  of  tiie  perforation." 

Dr.  Fitton  has  called  my  attention  to  a  passage  in  Lord  King's  Life  of 
Locke,  4°.  p.  166,  167,  from  which  it  appears  that  the  importance  of  a  spirsil 
disposition  within  the  intestinal  canal,  which  he  observed  in  many  prepara- 
tions in  the  collection  of  anatomy  at  Leydcn,  was  duly  appreciated  by  tiiat 
profound  philosopher. 


154  INTESTINAL  STRUCTURE 

surface  remains  almost  the  same,  as  if  they  had  been  cir- 
cular. Had  a  large  expansion  of  intestine  been  superadded 
to  the  enormous  stomach  and  lungs  of  the  Ichthyosaurus, 
the  consequent  enlargement  of  the  body  would  have  di- 
minished the  power  of  progressive  motion,  to  the  great 
detriment  of  an  animal  which  depended  on  its  speed  for  the 
capture  of  its  prey. 

The  above  facts  which  we  have  elicited  from  the  copro- 
litic  remains  of  the  Ichthyosauri,  afford  a  new  and  curious 
contribution  to  our  knowledge  both  of  the  anatomy  and 
habits  of  the  extinct  inhabitants  of  our  planet.  We  have 
found  evidence  which  enables  us  to  point  out  the  existence 
of  beneficial  arrangements  and  compensations,  even  in  those 
perishable,  yet  important  parts  which  formed  their  organs 
of  digestion.  We  have  ascertained  the  nature  of  their  food, 
and  the  form  and  structure  of  their  intestinal  canal;  and 
have  traced  the  digestive  organs  through  three  distinct 
stages  of  descent,  from  a  large  and  long  stomach,  through 
the  spiral  coils  of  a  compressed  ilium,  to  their  termination  in 
a  cloaca;  from  which  the  Coprolites  descended  into  the 
mud  of  the  nascent  lias.  In  this  lias  they  have  been  interred 
during  countless  ages,  until  summoned  from  its  deep  recesses 
by  the  labours  of  the  Geologist,  to  give  evidence  of  events 
that  passed  at  the  bottom  of  the  ancient  seas,  in  ages  long 
preceding  the  existence  of  man. 

Intestinal  Structure  of  Fossil  Fishes. 

Discoveries  have  recently  been  made  of  CoproUtes  de- 
rived from  fossil  fishes.  Mr.  Mantell  has  found  them  within 
the  body  of  the  Macropoma  Mantellii,  from  the  chalk  of 
Lewes,  placed  in  contact  with  the  long  stomach  of  this 
voracious  fish :  the  coats  of  its  stomach  are  also  well  pre- 
served.*    Miss  Anning  also   has   discovered   them  within 

*  See  Mantell's  Gcol.  of  Sussex,   PI.   38.     I    learn  from  Mr.   Mantel!, 


OF  FOSSIL  FISHES.  155 

the  bodies  of  several  species  of  fossil  fish,  from  the  lias  at 
Lyme  Regis.  Dr.  Hibbert  has  shown  that  the  strata  of 
fresh-water  limestone,  in  the  lower  region  of  the  coal  for- 
mation, at  Burdie  House,  near  Edinburgh,  are  abundantly 
interspersed  with  Coprolites,  derived  from  fishes  of  that 
early  era ;  and  Sir  Philip  Egerton  has  found  similar  foecal 
remains,  mixed  with  scales  of  the  Megalichthys,  and  fresh- 
water shells,  in  the  coal  formation  of  Newcastle-under^ 
Lyne.  In  1832,  Mr.  W.  C.  Trevelyan  recognised  Copro- 
lites in  the  centre  of  nodules  of  clay  ironstone,  that  abound 
in  a  low  cliff  composed  of  shale,  belonging  to  the  coal  for- 
mation at  Newhaven,  near  Leith.  I  visited  the  spot,  with 
this  gentleman  and  Lord  Greenock,  in  September,  1834, 
and  found  these  nodules  strewed  so  thickly  upon  the  shore 
that  a  few  minutes  sufficed  to  collect  more  specimens  than 
I  could  carry;  many  of  these  contained  a  fossil  fish,  or 
fragment  of  a  plant,  but  the  greater  number  had  for  their 
nucleus,  a  Coprolite,  exhibiting  an  internal  spiral  structure ; 
they  were  probably  derived  from  voracious  fishes,  whose 
bones  are  found  in  the  same  stratum.  These  nodules  take 
a  beautiful  polish,  and  have  been  applied  by  the  lapidaries 
of  Edinburgh  to  make  tables,  letter  presses,  and  ladies'  or- 
naments, under  the  name  of  Beetle  stones,  from  their  sup- 
posed insect  origin.  Lord  Greenock  has  discovered,  be- 
tween the  laminsB  of  a  block  of  coal,  from  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Edinburgh,  a  mass  of  petrified  intestines  distended 
with  Coprohte,  and  surrounded  with  the  scales  of  a  fish, 
which  Professor  Agassiz  refers  to  the  Megalichthys. 

This  distinguished  naturalist  has  recently  ascertained  that 

that  the  form  of  the  Coprolites  within  the  Macropoma  most  nearly  resem- 
ble those  engraved,  PI.  15,  Figs.  8,9,  of  the  present  work :  he  also  con- 
jectures that  the  more  tortuous  kinds,  (PI.  15,  Figs.  5,7,)  long  known  by 
the  name  of  Juli,  and  supposed  to  be  fossil  fir  cones,  may  have  been  derived 
from  fishes  of  the  Shark  family,  (Ptychodus)  whose  large  palatal  teeth  (PI. 
27./)  abound  in  the  same  localities  of  the  chalk  formation  with  them,  at 
Steyning  and  Hamsey. 


156  INTESTINAL  STRUCTURE  OF  FOSSIL  FISHES. 

the  fossil  worm-like  bodies,  so  abundant  in  the  lithographic 
slate  of  Solenhofen,  and  described  by  Count  Munster  in  the 
Petrefacten  of  Goldfuss,  under  the  name  of  Lumbricaria, 
are  either  the  petrified  intestines  of  fishes,  or  the  contents  of 
their  intestines,  still  retaining  the  form  of  the  tortuous  tube 
in  which  they  were  lodged.  To  these  remarkable  fossils  he 
has  given  the  name  of  Cololites.  (PI.  15',  is  copied  from  one 
of  a  series  that  are  engraved  in  Goldfuss.  Petrefacten,  PI. 
66.)  He  has  also  found  similar  tortuous  petrifactions  within 
the  abdominal  cavity  of  fossil  fishes,  belonging  to  several 
species  of  the  genus  Thrissops  and  Leptolepis,  occupying 
the  ordinary  position  of  the  intestines  between  the  ribs.*  (See 
Agassiz  Poissons  Fossiles,  liv.  2,  Appendix,  p.  15.) 

It  is  probable  that  to  many  persons  inexperienced  in  ana- 
tomy, any  kind  of  information  on  a  subject  so  remote,  and 
apparently  so  inaccessible,  as  the  intestinal  structure  of  an 
extinct  reptile  or  fossil  fish,  may  at  first  appear  devoid  of 
the  smallest  possible  importance ;  but  it  assumes  a  character 
of  high  value,  in  the  investigation  of  the  proofs  of  creative 

*  As  these  Cololites  are  most  frequently  found  insulated  in  the  litho- 
gfraphic  limestone,  M.  Agassiz  has  ingeniously  explained  this  fact  by  ob- 
serving the  process  of  decomposition  of  dead  fishes  in  the  lakes  of  Switzer- 
land. The  dead  fish  floats  on  the  surface  with  its  belly  upwards^  until  the 
abdomen  is  so  distended  with  putrid  gas,  that  it  bursts :  through  the  aperture 
thus  formed  the  bowels  come  forth  into  the  water,  still  adhering  together  in 
their  natural  state  of  convolution.  This  intestinal  mass  is  soon  torn  from 
the  body  by  the  movement  of  the  waves ;  the  fish  then  sinks,  and  the  bowels 
continue  a  long  time  floating  on  the  water:  if  cast  on  shore,  they  remain 
many  days  upon  the  sand  before  they  are  completely  decomposed.  The 
small  bowels  only  are  thus  detached  from  the  body,  the  stomach  and  other 
viscera  remain  within  it. 

We  owe  this  illustration  of  the  nature  of  these  fossil  bodies,  whose  origin 
has  hitherto  been  inexplicable,  to  the  author  of  a  most  important  work  on 
fossil  fishes,  now  under  publication  at  Neuchatel.  His  qualifications  for 
so  great  and  difficult  a  task  are  abundantly  guaranteed  by  the  fact,  that 
Cuvier,  on  seeing  the  progress  he  had  made,  at  once  placed  at  the  disposal 
of  Professor  Agassiz  the  materials  he  had  himself  collected  towards  a  simi- 
lar work. 


PLESIOSAURDS.  157 

wisdom  and  design,  that  are  unfolded  by  the  researches  of 
Geology;  and  supplies  a  new  link  to  that  important  chain, 
which  connects  the  lost  races  that  formerly  inhabited  our 
planet,  with  a  species  that  are  actually  living  and  moving 
around  ourselves.*  The  systematic  recurrence,  in  animals 
of  such  distant  eras,  of  the  same  contrivances,  similarly 
disposed  to  etfect  similar  purposes,  with  analogous  adapta- 
tions to  peculiar  conditions  of  existence,  shows  that  they  all 
originated  in  the  same  Intelligence. 

When  we  see  the  body  of  an  Ichthyosaurus,  still  contain- 
ing the  food  it  had  eaten  just  before  its  death,  and  its  ribs 
still  surrounding  the  remains  of  fishes,  that  were  swallowed 
ten  thousand,  or  more  than  ten  times  ten  thousand  years 
ago,  all  these  vast  intervals  seem  annihilated,  time  altogether 
disappears,  and  we  are  almost  brought  into  as  immediate 
contact  with  events  of  immeasurably  distant  periods,  as 
with  the  affairs  of  yesterday. 


SECTION  VI. 

PLESIOSAURUS.f 

We  come  next  to  consider  a  genus'  of  extinct  animals, 
nearly  allied  in  structure  to  the  Ichthyosaurus,  and  co-ex- 
tensive with  it  through  the  middle  age  of  our  terrestrial 
history.  The  discovery  of  this  genus  forms  one  of  the  most 
important  additions  that  Geology  has  made  to  comparative 

♦  Le  temps  qui  repand  de  la  dignite  sur  tout  ce  qui  echappe  ii  son  pou- 
voir  destructeur,  fait  voir  ici  un  exemple  singuiier  de  son  influence  :  ces 
substances  si  viles  dans  leur  origine,  etant  rendues  h  la  lumiere  Jipres  tant 
de  si^cles,  deviennent  d'une  grande  importance  puis  qu'elles  servent  k 
remplir  un  nouveau  chapitre  dans  i'histoire  natureile  du  globe. — Bulletin 
See.  Imp.  de  Moscow,  No.  VI.  1833,  p.  23, 

t  See  PI.  16,  17,  18,  19. 

VOL.  I. — 14. 


158  MARINE    SAURIANS. 

anatomy.  It  is  of  the  Plesiosaurus,  that  Cuvier  asserts  the 
structure  to  have  been  the  most  heterocUte,  and  its  charac- 
ters altogether  the  most  monstrous,  that  have  been  yet  found 
amid  the  ruins  of  a  former  world.*  To  the  head  of  a 
Lizard,  it  united  the  teeth  of  a  Crocodile ;  a  neck  of  enor- 
mous length,  resembling  the  body  of  a  Serpent:  a  trunk 
and  tail  having  the  proportions  of  an  ordinary  quadruped, 
the  ribs  of  a  Chameleon,  and  the  paddles  of  a  Whale.  Such 
are  the  strange  combinations  of  form  and  structure  in  the 
Plesiosaurus — a  genus,  the  remains  of  which,  after  inter- 
ment for  thousands  of  years  amidst  the  wreck  of  millions  of 
extinct  inhabitants  of  the  ancient  earth,  are  at  length  recall- 
ed to  hght  by  the  reseaches  of  the  Geologist,  and  submitted 
to  our  examination,  in  nearly  as  perfect  a  state  as  the  bones 
of  species  that  are  now  existing  upon  the  earth. 

The  Plesiosauri  appear  to  have  lived  in  shallow  seas  and 
estuaries,  and  to  have  breathed  air  hke  the  Ichthyosauri,  and 
our  modern  Cetacea.  We  are  already  acquainted  with  five 
or  six  species,  some  of  which  attained  a  prodigious  size  and 
length  ;  but  our  present  observations  will  be  chiefly  limited 
to  that  which  is  the  best  known,  and  perhaps  the  most  re- 
markable of  them  all,  viz,  the  P.  DoUchodeirus.f 

*  Get  habitant  de  I'ancien  monde  est  peut-etre  la  plus  hel6roclite  et  cclui 
de  tous  qui  paroit  !e  plus  ineriter  le  nom  de  monstre. — Oss.  Foss.  V.  Pt.  2, 
p.  476. 

t  The  first  specimens  of  this  animal  were  discovered  in  the  lias  of 
Lyme  Regis,  about  the  year  1823,  and  formed  the  foundation  of  that 
admirable  paper  (Geol.  Trans.  Lend.  vol.  5,  Pt.  2.)  in  which  Mr.  Cony- 
beare  and  M.  De  la  Beche  established  and  named  this  genus.  Other  ex- 
amples have  since  been  recognised  in  the  same  formations  in  different 
parts  of  England,  Ireland,  France,  nnd  Germany,  and  in  formations  of 
various  ages,  from  the  muschel  kaik  upwards  to  the  chalk.  The  first 
specimen  discovered  in  a  state  approaching  to  perfection,  was  that  in  the 
collection  of  the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  (figured  in  the  Geol.  Trans. 
Lond.  N.  S.  Vol.  1,  Pt.  2,  PI.  48.)  Another  specimen,  nearly  entire,  in 
the  collection  of  the  British  Museum,  eleven  feet  in  length,  is  figured  in 
our  second  volume,  PI.  16;)  and  at  PI.  17,  a  still  more  perfect  fossil 
skeleton,  also  in  the  British   Museum,  discovered  by  Mr.  Hawkins,  in  the 


PLESIOSAURUS.  159 


Head* 

The  head  of  the  P.  Dolichodeirus  exhibits  a  combination 
of  the  characters  of  the  Ichthyosaurus,  the  Crocodile,  and 
the  Lizard,  but  most  nearly  approaches  to  the  latter.  It 
agrees  with  the  Ichthyosaurus  in  the  smallness  of  its  nostrils, 
and  also  in  their  position  near  the  anterior  angle  of  the  eye ; 
it  resembles  the  Crocodile,  in  having  the  teeth  lodged  in  dis- 
tinct alveoli ;  but  differs  from  both,  in  the  form  and  short- 
ness of  its  head,  many  characters  of  which  approach  close 
ly  to  the  Iguana.f 

lias  at  Street,  near  Glastonbury.  At  PI.  IG  is  also  copied  Mr.  Conybcare's 
restoration  of  tliis  animal,  from  dislocated  fraornents,  before  any  entire 
skeletons  were  found,  Tiic  near  approach  of  this  restoration  to  the  charac- 
ter of  the  perfect  skeletons,  affords  a  striking  example  of  the  sure  grounds 
on  which  comparative  anatomy  enables  us  to  reconstruct  the  bodies  of  fossil 
animals,  from  a  careful  combination  of  insulated  parts.  The  soundness  of 
the  reasoning  of  Cuvier,  on  the  fossil  quadrupeds  of  Montmartre,  was  esta- 
blished by  the  subsequent  discovery  of  skeletons,  such  as  he  had  conjectu- 
rally  restored  from  insulated  bones.  Mr.  Conybearc's  restoration  of  the  Ple- 
"siosaurus  Dolichodeirus,  (1*1.  16,)  was  not  less  fully  confirmed  by  the  speci- 
mens above-mentioned. 

*  See  PI.  16,  17,18. 

t  Mr.  Conybeare,  in  the  Geol.  Trans,  second  series,  vol.  1,  part  1,  PI. 
19,  has  published  figures  of  the  superior  and  lateral  view  of  a  nearly  perfect 
head  of  this  animal.  Our  figure,  PI.  18,  Fig.  2,  represents  the  head  of  the 
specimen  in  the  British  Museum,  of  which  the  entire  figure,  on  a  smaller 
scale,  is  given  in  PI.  16.  The  head  is  in  a  supine  position;  the  upper  jaw 
is  distorted,  and  shows  several  of  the  separate  alveoli  that  contained  the 
teeth,  and  also  the  posterior  portion  of  the  palate.  Tlie  under  jaw  is  but 
little  disturbed. 

A  figure  of  another  lower  jaw  is  given  at  PI.  18,  Fig.  1,  taken  from  a  spe- 
cimen  also  in  the  British  Museum,  found  by  Mr.  Hawkins,  at  Street. 

PI.  19,  Fig.  3,  represents  the  extremity  of  the  dental  bone  of  another 
lower  jaw,  in  the  same  collection,  retaining  several  teeth  in  the  anterior 
sockets,  and  also  exhibiting  a  series  of  new  teeth,  rising  within  an  inte- 
rior range  of  small  cavities.  This  arrangement  for  the  formation  of  new 
teeth,  in  cells  within  the  bony  mass  that  contains  the  older  teeth,  from 
which  they  shoot  irregularly  forwards  through  the  substance  of  the  bone, 
forms   an  important  point   of  resemblance  whereby    the  Plesiosaurus  as- 


160  MARINE  SAURIANS. 

Neck. 

The  most  anomalous  of  all  the  characters  of  P.  Dolicho- 
deirus  is  the  extraordinary  extension  of  the  neck,  to  a  length 
almost  equalling  that  of  the  body  and  tail  together,  and  sur- 
})assing  in  the  number  of  its  vertebree  (about  thirty-three) 
that  of  the  most  long-necked  bird,  the  Swan :  it  thus  de- 
viates in  the  greatest  degree  from  the  almost  universal  law, 
which  limits  the  cervical  vertebra;  of  quadrupeds  to  a  very 
small  number.  Even  in  the  Camelopard,  the  Camel,  and 
Lama,  their  number  is  uniformly  seven.  In  the  short  neck 
of  the  Cetacea  the  type  of  this  number  is  maintained.  In 
Birds  it  varies  from  nine  to  twenty-three ;  and  in  living 
Reptiles  from  three  to  eight.*     We  shall  presently  find  in 

sumcs,  in  the  renovation  of  its  teeth,  the  characterof  Lizards,  combined  with 
the  position  of  the  perfect  teeth  in  distinct  alveoli,  after  the  manner  of  Cro- 
codiles. 

The  number  of  teeth  in  the  lower  jaw  was  fifty-four,  which,  if  met  by  a 
corresponding  series  in  the  upper  jaw,  nmst  have  made  the  total  number  to 
exceed  one  hundred.  The  anterior  part  of  the  extremity  of  the  jaw  enlarges 
itself  like  the  bowl  of  a  spoon,  to  allow  space  for  the  reception  of  the  first 
six  teeth  on  each  side,  which  are  the  largest  of  all. 

*  To  compensate  for  the  weakness  that  would  have  attended  this  great 
elongation  of  the  neck,  the  Plesiosaurus  had  an  addition  of  a  series  of  hatchet- 
shaped  processes,  on  each  side  of  the  lower  part  of  the  cervical  vertebra?. 
(PI.  17,  and  PI.  19,  I,  2.)  Rudiments  and  modifications  of  these  processes 
exist  in  birds,  and  in  long-nceked  quadrupeds.  In  the  Crocodiles  they 
assume  a  form,  most  nearly  approaching  that  which  they  bear  in  the  Plesio- 
saurus. 

The  bodies  of  the  vertebree  also  more  nearly  resemble  tliose  of  certain 
fossil  Crocodiles,  than  of  Ichthyosauri  or  Lizards;  they  agree  farther  vyith 
the  Crocodile,  in  having  the  annular  part  attached  to  the  body  by  sutures; 
so  that  we  have  in  the  neck  of  the  P.  Dolichodeirus  a  principle  of  con- 
struction resembling  that  of  the  vertebrm  of  Crocodiles;  combined  with  an 
elongation  very  much  exceeding  that  of  the  longest  neck  in  birds,  and  such 
as  occurs  in  no  other  known  animal  of  the  extinct  or  living  creations. 
The  length  of  the  neck  in  P.  Dolichodeirus  is  nearly  five  times  that  of 
the  head ;  that  of  the  trunk  four  times  the  length  of  the  head,  and  of  the 
tail  three  times ;  the  head  itself  being  one-thirteenth  part  of  the  whole 
body.— See  Geol.  Trans.  Lond.  Vol.  5,  p.  559,  and  Vol.  I.  N.  S.  p.  103,  et 
seq. 


PLESIOSAURTTS.  161 

the  habits  of  the  Plesiosaurus  a  probable  cause  for  this  ex- 
traordinary deviation  from  the  normal  character  of  the 
Lizards. 

Bach  and  Tail. 

The  vertebra?  of  the  back  were  not  disposed  in  hollow 
cones,  like  those  of  fishes,  but  presented  to  each  other  near- 
ly flat  surfaces,  giving  to  the  column  a  stability,  like  that 
which  exists  in  the  back  of  terrestrial  quadrupeds.  The 
articulating  processes,  also,  were  locked  into  one  another 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  give  strength,  rather  than  that  pe- 
culiar kind  of  flexibility,  which  admitted  of  the  same  quick 
progressive  motion  in  the  Ichthyosauri  that  we  find  in  fishes  : 
but  as  rapid  motion  was  incompatible  wath  the  structure  of 
the  other  parts  of  the  Plesiosaurus,  the  combination  of 
strength,  rather  than  of  speed  with  flexibility,  was  more  im- 
portant. 

The  tail,  being  comparatively  short,  could  not  have  been 
used  like  the  tail  of  fishes,  as  an  instrument  of  rapid  impul- 
sion in  a  forward  direction;  but  was  probably  employed 
more  as  a  rudder,  to  steer  the  animal  when  swimming  on 
the  surface,  or  to  elevate  or  depress  it  in  ascending  and  de- 
scending through  the  water.  The  same  consequence  as  to 
slowness  of  motion  would  follow  from  the  elongation  of  the 
neck,  to  so  great  a  distance  in  front  of  the  anterior  paddles. 
The  total  number  of  vertebras  in  the  entire  column  was  about 
ninety.  From  all  these  circumstances  we  may  infer  that 
this  animal,  although  of  considerable  size,  had  to  seek  its 
food,  as  well  as  its  safety,  chiefly  by  means  of  artifice  and 
concealment. 


14^ 


[&2  MARINE  SAUPaANS. 


Ribs* 


The  ribs  are  composed  of  two  parts,  one  vertebral  and 
one  ventral;  the  ventral  portions  of  one  side,  (PI.  18,  3,  b,) 
uniting  with  those  on  the  opposite  side  by  an  intermediate 
transverse  bone,  (a,  c,)  so  that  each  pair  of  ribs  encircled 
the  body  with  a  complete  belt,  made  up  of  five  parts.f  Cu- 
vier  observes  that  the  similarity  of  this  structure  to  that  of 
the  ribs  of  Chameleons  and  two  species  of  Iguana,  (Lacerta 
Marmorata,  Lin.  and  Anolius,  Cuvier,)  seems  to  show  that 
the  lungs  of  the  Plesiosaurus  Dolichodeirus,  (as  in  these 
three  sub-genera  of  living  Saurians,)  were  very  large ;  and 
possibly  that  the  colour  of  its  skin  also  was  changeable,  by 
the  varied  intensity  of  its  inspirations.  J  Oss.  Foss.  Vol.  Y. 
Pt.  2.  p.  280. 

•   See  PI.  16,  17,  18. 

j-  The  ventral  portion  of  each  rih,  (Pi.  17,  and  Pi.  18,  3,  b,)  appears  to 
have  been  composed  of  three  slender  bones  fitted  to  one  another  by  oblique 
grooves,  allowuig'  of  great  expansive  movement  during  the  inflation  of  the 
lungs:  the  manner  in  which  these  triple  bones  were  folded  over  one  another, 
is  best  seen  in  a  single  series  between  a,  and  b,  the  upper  ends  of  the  ven- 
tral portions  of  the  ribs  (b)  have  been  separated  by  pressure,  from  the  lower 
ends  of  the  vertebral  portions,  (d.) 

\  We  have  no  means  to  verify  this  ingenious  conjecture,  that  the  Pie- 
siosaurus  may  have  been  a  kind  of  sub-marine  Chameleon,  possessing  the 
power  of  altering  the  colour  of  its  skin;  it  must  however  be  admitted  tiuit 
such  a  power  would  have  been  of  much  advantage  to  this  animal,  in  defend- 
ing it  by  concealment  from  its  most  formidable  enemy  the  Ichthyosaurus, 
with  which,  its  diminutive  head  and  long  slender  neck,  must  have  rendered 
it  a  very  unequal  combatant,  and  from  whose  attacks  its  slow  locomotive 
powers  must  have  made  escape  by  flight  impossible;  the  enlarged  condition 
of  the  lungs,  would  also  have  been  of  great  advantage  in  diminishing  the  fre- 
quency of  its  ascents  to  the  surface,  to  inspire  air;  an  operation  that  must 
have  been  attended  with  constant  danger,  in  a  sea,  tliickly  swarming  with 
Ichthyosauri.  Dr.  Stark  has  recently  observed  that  certain  fishes,  especiall)- 
minnows,  have  a  tendency  to  assume  the  colour  of  the  vessel  in  which  they 
arc  kept.  (Proceedings  Zool.  Soc.  Lond.  July,  1833.)  As  in  animals  of 
this  class  there  are  no  lungs,  this  cliange  of  colour  must  arise  from  other 
causes  than  that  to  which  it  has  been  attributed  in  the  Chameleon. 


PLESIOSAURUS.  163 

This  hypothesis  of  Cuvier  is  but  conjectural,  respecting 
the  power  of  the  Plesiosaurus  to  change  the  colour  of  its 
skin ;  and  to  the  unexperienced  in  comparative  anatomy, 
it  may  seem  equally  conjectural,  to  deduce  any  other  con- 
clusions respecting  such  perishable  organs  as  the  lungs, 
from  the  discovery  of  peculiar  contrivances,  and  unusual 
apparatus  in  the  ribs ;  yet  we  argue  on  similar  grounds, 
when  from  the  form  and  capabilities  of  these  fossil  ribs,  we 
infer  that  they  were  connected,  as  in  the  Chameleon,  with 
vast  and  unusual  powers  of  expansion  and  contraction  in 
the  lungs;  and  when,  on  finding  the  ribs  and  wood-work 
of  a  worn-out  bellows,  near  the  ruins  of  a  blacksmith's 
forge,  we  conclude  that  these  more  enduring  parts  of  the 
frame  of  this,  instrument,  have  been  connected  with  a  pro- 
portionable expansion  of  leather. 

The  compound  character  of  the  ribs,  probably  also  gave 
to  the  Plesiosaurus  the  same  power  of  compressing  air 
within  its  lungs,  and  in  that  state  taking  it  to  the  bottom,, 
which  we  have  coufsidered  as  resulting  from  the  structure  of 
the  sterno -costal  apparatus  of  the  Ichthyosauri. 

Extremities.* 

As  the  Plesiosaurus  breathed  air,  and  was  therefore 
obliged  to  rise  often  to  the  surface  for  inspiration,  this  ne- 
cessity was  met  by  an  apparatus  in  the  chest  and  pelvis, 
and  in  the  bones  of  the  arms  and  legs,  enabling  it  to  ascend 
and  descend  in  the  water  after  the  manner  of  the  Ich- 
thyosauri and  Catecea ;  accordingly  the  legs  were  converted 
into  paddles,  longer  and  more  powerful  than  those  of  the 
Ichthyosaurus,  thus  compensating  for  the  comparatively 
small  assistance  which  it  could  have  derived  from  its  tail.f 

*  See  PI.  16,  17,  19. 

t  The  number  of  joints  representing  the  phalanges  of  the  fingers  and 
toes  exceeds  that  in  the  Lizards  and  Birds,  and  also  in  uU  Mammalia; 
excepting  the  Whales,  some  of  which   present  a  similar   increase  of  num- 


164  MARINE  SAUE.IANS. 

Comparing  these  extremities  with  those  of  other  verte- 
brated  animals,  we  trace  are  gular  series  of  links  and  gra- 
dations, from  the  corresponding  parts  of  the  highest  mam- 
malia, to  their  least  perfect  form  in  the  fins  of  fishes.  In 
the  fore  paddle  of  the  Plesiosaurus,  we  have  all  the  essential 
parts  of  the  fore-leg  of  a  quadruped,  and  even  of  a  human 
arm ;  first  the  scapula,  next  the  humerus,  then  the  radius  and 
ulna,  succeeded  by  the  bones  of  the  carpus  and  metacarpus, 
and  these  followed  by  five  fingers,  each  composed  of  a  con- 
tinuous series  of  phalanges.  (See  PI.  16,  17,  19.)  The 
hind  paddle  also  offers  precisely  the  same  analogies  to  the 
leg  and  foot  of  the  Mammalia;  the  pelvis  and  femur  are 
succeeded  by  a  tibia  and  fibula,  which  articulate  with  the 
bones  of  the  tarsus  and  metatarsus,  followed  by  the  nume- 
rous phalanges  of  five  long  toes. 

From  the  consideration  of  all  its  characters,  Mr.  Cony- 
beare  has  drawn  the  following  inferences  with  respect  to 
the  habits  of  the  Plesiosaurus  Dolichodeirus,  "  That  it  was 
aquatic  is  evident,  from  the  form  of  its  paddles;  that  it  was 
marine  is  almost  equally  so,  from  the  remains  with  which 
it  is  universally  associated ;  that  it  may  have  occasionally 
visited  the  shore,  the  resemblance  of  its  extremities  to  those 
of  the  Turtle  may  lead  us  to  conjecture;  its  motion  how- 
ever must  have  been  very  awkward  on  land ;  its  long  neck 
must  have  impeded  its  progress  through  the  water;  pre- 
senting a  striking  contrast  to  the  organization  which  so  ad- 
mirably fits  the  Ichthyosaurus  to  cut   through  the  waves. 

ber  to  accommodate  them  to  the  corresponding-  office  of  a  paddle.  The  mode 
of  connexion  between  the  joints  was  (like  that  in  the  Whales,)  by  synchon- 
drosis. The  phalanges  of  the  Plesiosaurus  present  a  link,  between  the  still 
more  numerous  and  angular  joints  of  the  paddle  of  the  Ichthyosaurus,  and 
the  phalanges  of  land  quadrupeds,  which  are  more  or  less  cylindrical ;  in- 
these  sea  Lizards  they  were  flattened,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  breadth  to 
the  extremities  as  organs  of  swimming.  As  its  paddles  give  no  indication 
of  having  carried  even  such  imperfect  claws,  as  those  of  the  Turtles  and 
Seals,  the  Plesiosaurus  apparently  could  have  made  little  or  no  progress  in. 
any  other  clement  than  water. 


PLESIOSAUKUS.  165 

May  it  not  therefore  be  concluded  (since,  in  addition  to 
these  circumstances,  its  respiration  must  have  required 
frequent  access  of  air,)  that  it  swam  upon,  or  near  the  sur- 
face ;  arching  back  its  long  neck  like  the  swan,  and  oc- 
casionally darting  it  down  at  the  fish  which  happened  to 
float  within  its  I'each.  It  may  perhaps  have  lurked  in  shoal 
water  along  the  coast,  concealed  among  the  sea-weed,  and 
raising  its  nostrils  to  a  level  with  the  surface  from  a  con- 
siderable depth,  may  have  found  a  secure  retreat  from  the 
assaults  of  dangerous  enemies ;  while  the  length  and  flexi- 
bility  of  its  neck  may  have  compensated  for  the  want  of 
strength  in  its  jaws,  and  its  incapacity  for  swift  motion 
through  the  water,  by  the  suddenness  and  agility  of  the 
attack  which  they  enabled  it  to  make  on  every  animal  fitted 
for  its  prey,  which  came  within  its  reach." — Geol.  Trans,  n. 
s.  vol.  i.  part  ii.  p.  388. 

We  began  our  account  of  the  Plesiosaurus  with  quoting 
the  high  authority  of  Cuvicr,  for  considering  it  as  one  of 
the  most  anomalous  and  monstrous  productions  of  the  an- 
cient systems  of  creation ;  we  have  seen  in  proceeding 
through  our  examination  of  its  details,  that  these  apparent 
anomalies  consist  only  in  the  diversified  arrangement,  and 
varied  proportion,  of  parts  fundamentally  the  same  as  those 
that  occur  in  the  most  perfectly  formed  creatures  of  the 
present  world. 

Pursuing  the  analogies  of  construction,  that  connect  the 
existing  inhabitants  of  the  earth  with  those  extinct  genera 
and  species  which  preceded  the  creation  of  our  race,  we 
find  an  unbroken  chain  of  affinities  pervading  the  entire 
series  of  organized  beings  and  connecting  all  past  and 
present  forms  of  animal  existence  by  close  and  harmonious 
ties.  Even  our  own  bodies,  and  some  of  their  most  im- 
portant organs,  are  brought  into  close  and  direct  comparison 
with  those  of  reptiles,  which,  at  first  sight,  appear  the  most 
monstrous  productions  of  creation;  and  in  the  very  hand 
and  fingers  with  which  we  write  their  history,  we  recog- 


166  MARINE  SAURIANS. 

nise  the  type  of  the  paddles  of  the  Ichthyosaurus  and  Ple- 
siosaurus. 

Extending  a  similar  comparison  through  the  four  great 
classes  of  vertebral  animals,  we  find  in  each  species  a 
varied  adaptation  of  analogous  parts,  to  the  different  cir- 
cumstances and  conditions  in  which  it  was  intended  to  be 
placed.  Ascending  from  the  lower  orders,  we  trace  a 
gradual  advancement  in  structure  and  office,  till  we  arrive 
at  those  whose  functions  are  the  most  exalted :  thus,  the 
fin  of  the  fish  becomes  the  paddle  of  the  reptile  Plesiosaurus 
and  Ichthyosaurus ;  the  same  organ  is  converted  into  the 
wing  of  the  Pterodactyle,  the  bird  and  bat ;  it  becomes  the 
fore-foot,  or  paw,  in  quadrupeds  that  move  upon  the  land, 
and  attains  its  highest  consummation  in  the  arm  and  hand 
of  rational  man. 

1  will  conclude  these  observations  in  the  words  and  with 
the  feelings  of  Mr.  Conybeare,  which  must  be  in  unison 
with  those  of  all  who  had  the  pleasure  to  follow  him  through 
his  masterly  investigations  of  this  curious  subject,  from 
which  great  part  of  our  information  respecting  the  genus 
Plesiosaurus  has  been  derived : 

"  To  the  observer  actually  engaged  in  tracing  the  various 
links  that  bind  together  the  chain  of  organized  beings,  and 
struck  at  every  instant  by  the  development  of  the  most 
beautiful  analogies,  almost  every  detail  of  comparative 
anatomy,  however  minute,  acquires  an  interest,  and  even 
a  charm ;  since  he  is  continually  presented  with  fresh  proof 
of  the  great  general  law,  which  Scarpa  himself,  one  of  its 
most  able  investigators,  has  so  elegantly  expressed :  '  Usque 
adeo  natura,  una  eadem  semper  atque  multiplex,  disparibus 
etiam  formis  effectus  pares,  admirabili  quadam  varietatum 
simplicitate  conciliat.'  " 


MOSASAURUS.  167 


SECTION  VII. 


MOSASAURUS,  OR  GREAT  ANIMAL  OF  MAESTRICHT. 

The  Mosasaurus  has  been  long  known  by  the  name  of 
the  great  animal  of  Maestricht,  occurring  near  that  city,  in 
the  calcareous  freestone  which  forms  the  most  recent  de- 
posite  of  the  cretaceous  formation,  and  contains  Ammonites, 
Belemnites,  Hamites,  and  many  other  shells  belonging  to 
the  chalk,  mixed  with  numerous  remains  of  marine  animals 
that  are  pecuhar  to  itself.  A  nearly  perfect  head  of  this 
animal  was  discovered  in  1780,  and  is  now  in  the  Museum 
at  Paris.  This  celebrated  head  during  many  years  baffled 
all  the  skill  of  Naturalists ;  some  considered  it  to  be  that  of 
a  Whale,  others  of  a  Crocodile ;  but  its  true  place  in  the 
animal  kingdom  was  first  suggested  by  Adrian  Camper,  and 
at  length  confirmed  by  Cuvier.  By  their  investigations  it  is 
proved  to  have  been  a  gigantic  marine  reptile,  most  nearly 
allied  to  the  monitor.*  The  geological  epoch  at  which  the 
Mosasaurus  first  appeared,  seems  to  have  been  the  last  of 
the  long  series,  during  which  the  oohtic  and  cretaceous 
groups  were  in  process  of  formation;  In  these  periods  the  ' 
inhabitants  of  our  planet  seem  to  have  been  principally 
marine,  and  some  of  the  largest  creatures  were  Saurians  of 
gigantic  stature,  many  of  them  living  in  the  sea,  and  con- 
trolhng  the  excessive  increase  of  the  then  existing  tribes  of 
fishes. 

From  the  lias    upwards,  to  the  commencement  of  the 

*  The  Monitors  form  a  genus  of  Lizards,  frequenting  marshes  and  the 
banlis  of  rivers  in  hot  climates;  they  have  received  this  name  from  the  pre- 
Tailing,  but  absurd,  notion  that  they  give  warning  by  a  whistling  noisr,  of 
the  approach  of  Crocodiles  and  Caymans.  One  species,  the  Lacerta  nilotica, 
which  devours  the  eggs  of  Crocodiles,  has  been  sculptured  on  the  monuments 
of  ancient  Egypt. 


168  MARINE    SAURIANS.  , 

chalk  formation,  the  Ichthyosauri  and  Plesiosauri  were  the 
tyrants  of  the  ocean ;  and  just  at  the  point  of  time  when 
their  existence  terminated,  during  the  deposition  of  the  chalk, 
the  new  genus  Mosasaurus  appears  to  have  been  introduced, 
to  supply  for  a  while  their  place  and  office,*  being  itself  des- 
tined in  its  turn  to  give  place  to  the  Cetacea  of  the  tertiary 
periods.  As  no  Saurians  of  the  present  world  are  inhabi- 
tants of  the  sea,  and  the  most  powerful  living  representatives 
of  this  order,  viz.  the  Crocodiles,  though  living  chiefly  in 
water,  have  recourse  to  stratagem  rather  than  speed,  for  the 
capture  of  their  prey,  it  may  not  be  unprofitable  to  examine 
the  mechanical  contrivances,  by  which  a  reptile,  most  nearly 
allied  to  the  Monitor,  was  so  constructed,  as  to  possess  the 
power  of  moving  in  the  sea,  with  sufficient  velocity  to  over- 
take and  capture  such  large  and  powerful  fishes,  as  from 
the  enormous  size  of  its  teeth  and  jaws,  we  may  conclude 
it  was  intended  to  devour. 

The  head  and  teeth,  (PI.  20.)  point  out  the  near  relations 
of  this  animal  to  the  Monitors ;  and  the  proportions  main- 
tained throughout  all  the  other  parts  of  the  skeleton,  warrant 
the  conclusion  that  this  monstrous  Monitor  of  the  ancient 
deep  was  five  and  twenty  feet  in  length,  although  the  longest 
of  its  modern  congeners  does  not  exceed  five  feet.  The 
head  here  represented  measures  four  feet  in  length,  that 
of  the  largest  Monitor  does  not  exceed  five  inches.  The 
most  skilful  Anatomist  would  be  at  a  loss  to  devise  a  series 
of  modifications,  by  which  a  Monitor  could  be  enlarged  to 
the  length  and  bulk  of  a  Grampus,f  and  at  the  same  time  be 
fitted  to  move  with  strength  and  rapidity  through  the  waters 
of  the  sea;  yet  in  the  fossil  before  us,  we  shall  find  the 
genuine  characters  of  a  Monitor  maintained  throughout  the 

*  Remains  of  the  Mosasaurus  have  been  discovered  by  Mr.  Mantcll  in 
the  upper  chalk  near  Lewes,  and  by  Dr.  Morton  in  tlie  green  sand  of 
Virginia. 

t  The  Grampus  is  from  20  to  25  feet  long,  and  very  ferocious,  feeding  on 
seals  and  porpoises  as  well  as  on  other  fishes. 


MOSASAURUS.  169 

whole  skeleton,  with  such  deviations  only  as  tended  to  fit  the 
animal  for  its  marine  existence. 

The  Mosasaurus  had  scarcely  any  character  in  common 
with  the  Crocodile,  but  resembled  the  Iguanas,  in  having  an 
apparatus  of  teeth  fixed  on  the  pterygoid  bone,  (PI.  20.  k.) 
and  placed  in  the  roof  of  its  mouth,  as  in  many  serpents  and 
fishes,  where  they  act  as  barbs  to  prevent  the  escape  of  their 
prey.* 

The  other  parts  of  the  skeleton  follow  the  character  indi- 
cated by  the  head.  The  vertebrge  are  all  concave  in  front, 
and  convex  behind ;  being  fitted  to  each  other  by  a  ball  and 
socket  joint,  admitting  easy  and  universal  flexion.  From 
the  centre  of  the  back  to  the  extremity  of  the  tail,  they  are 
destitute  of  articular  apophyses,  which  are  essential  to  sup- 
port the  back  of  animals  that  move  on  land:  in  this  respect, 
they  agree  M'ith  the  vertebrae  of  Dolphins,  and  were  calcu- 
lated to  facilitate  the  power  of  swimming;  the  vertebras  of 
the  neck  allowed  to  that  part  also  more  flexibihty  than  in 
the  Crocodiles. 

The  tail  was  flattened  on  each  side,  but  high  and  deep  in 
the  vertical  direction,  like  the  tail  of  a  Crocodile ;  forming 
a  straight  oar  of  immense  strength  to  propel  the  body  by 
horizontal  movements,  analogous  to  those  of  skulling.  Al- 
though the  number  of  caudal  vertebrae  was  nearly  the  same 

*  The  teeth  have  no  true  roots  and  are  not  hollow,  as  in  the  Crocodiles, 
but  when  full  grown,  are  entirely  solid,  and  united  to  the  sockets  by  a  broad 
and  firm  base  of  bone,  formed  from  the  ossification  of  the  pulpy  matter 
which  had  secreted  the  tooth,  and  still  farther  attached  to  the  jaw  by  the 
ossification  of  the  capsule  that  had  furnished  the  enamel.  This  indurated 
capsule,  passed  like  a  circular  buttress  around  its  base,  tending  to  make  the 
tooth  an  instrument  of  prodigious  strength.  The  young  tooth  first  appeared 
in  a  separate  cell  in  the  bone  of  the  jaw,  (11.  20,  h.)  and  moved  irregularly 
across  its  substance,  until  it  pressed  against  the  base  of  the  old  tooth  ;  causing 
it  gradually  to  beconie  detached,  together  with  its  b■l^e  by  a  kind  of  necrosist 
and  to  fall  off  like  the  horns  of  a  Deer.  The  teeth,  in  the  roof  of  the  mouth, 
are  also  constructed  on  the  same  principle  with  those  in  the  jaw,  and  renewed 
in  like  manner. 
VOL.  I. — 15 


170  MARINE    SAURIANS. 

as  in  the  Monitor,  the  proportionate  length  of  the  tail  was 
much  diminished  by  the  comparative  shortness  of  the  body 
of  each  vertebra ;  the  effect  of  this  variation  being  to  give 
strength  to  a  shorter  tail  as  an  organ  for  swimming ;  and  a 
rapidity  of  movement,  which  would  have  been  unattainable 
by  the  long  and  slender  tail  of  the  Monitor,  which  assists 
that  animal  in  climbing.  There  is  a  farther  provision  to  give 
strength  to  the  tail,  by  the  chevron  bones  being  soldered 
firmly  to  the  body  of  each  vertebra,  as  in  fishes. 

The   total   number   of  vertebras  was  one  hundred  and 
thirty-three,  nearly  the  same  as  in  the  Monitors,  and  more 
than  double  the  number  of  those  in  the  Crocodiles.     The  ribs 
had  a  single  head,  and  were  round,  as   in   the   family  of 
Lizards.     Of  the  extremities,  sufficient  fragments  have  been 
found  to  prove  that  the  Mosasaurus,  instead  of  legs,  had  four 
large  paddles,  resembling  those  of  the  Plesiosaurus  and  the 
Whale :  one  great  use  of  these  was  probably  to  assist  in 
raising  the  animal  to  the  surface,  in  order  to  breathe,  as  it 
apparently  had   not  the  horizontal  tail,  by  means  of  which 
the  Cetacea  ascend  for  this  purpose.     All  these  characters 
unite  to  show  that  the  Mosasaurus  was  adapted  to  live  en- 
tirely in  the  water,  and  that  although  it  was  of  such  vast 
proportions   compared    with    the   living   genera    of    these 
families,  it  formed  a  link  intermediate  between  the  Monitors 
and  the  Iguanas.     However  strange  it  may  appear  to  find 
its   dimensions    so    much    exceeding  those  of  any  existing 
Lizards,  or  to  find  marine  genera  in  the  order  of  Saurians, 
in  which  there  exists  at  this  time  no  species    capable  of 
living  in  the  sea  ;  it  is  scarcely  less  strange  than  the  analo- 
gous deviations  in  the  Megalosaurus  and  Jguanodon,  which 
afford  examples  of  still  greater  expansion  of  the  type  of  the 
Monitor  and  Iguana,  into  colossal  forms  adapted  to  move 
upon  the  land.     Throughout  all  these  variations  of  propor- 
tion, we  trace  the  persistence  of  the  same  laws,  which  regu- 
late the  formation  of  living  genera,  and  from  the  combina- 
tions of  perfect  mechanism  that  have,  in  all  times,  resulted 


PTERODACTTLE.  171 

from  their  operation,  we  infer  the  perfection  of  the  wisdoKi 
by  which  all  this  mechanism  was  designed,  and  the  immen- 
sity of  the  power  by  which  it  has  ever  been  upheld. 

Cuvier  asserts  of  the  Mosasaurus  that  before  he  had  seen 
a  single  vertebra,  or  a  bone  of  any  of  its  extremities,  he  was 
enabled  to  announce  the  character  of  the  entire  skeleton, 
from  the  examination  of  the  jaws  and  teeth  alone,  and  even 
from  a  single  tooth.  The  power  of  doing  this  results  from 
those  magnificent  laws  of  co-existence,  which  form  the  basis 
of  the  science  of  comparative  anatomy,  and  which  give  the 
highest  interest  to  its  discoveries. 


SECTION  viir. 


PTERODACTYLE. 


Among  the  most  remarkable  disclosures  made  by  the  re- 
searches of  Geology,  we  may  rank  the  flying  reptiles,  which 
have  been  ranged  by  Cuvier  under  the  genus  Pterodactyle ; 
a  genus  presenting  more  singular  combinations  of  form,  than 
we  find  in  any  other  creatures  yet  discovered  amid  the  ruins 
of  the  ancient  earth. f 

The  structure  of  these  animals  is  so  exceedingly  anoma- 
lous, that  the  first  discovered  Pterodactyle  (PI.  21)  was  con- 
sidered by  one  naturalist  to  be  a  bird,  by  another  as  a  spe- 
cies of  bat,  and  by  a  third  as  a  flying  reptile. 

This  extraordinary  discordance  of  opinion  respecting  a 
creature  whose  skeleton  was  almost  entire,  arose  from  the 

•   See  PI.  1,  Figs.  42,  43,  and  Plates  21,  22. 

•j-  Plerodactyles  have  hitheito  been  found  chiefly  in  the  quarries  of  litho- 
graphic limestone  of  the  jura  formation  at  Aichstadt  and  Solenhofen;  astone 
abounding  in  marine  remains,  and  also  containing  Libellulse,  and  other  in- 
sects. Tiiey  have  also  been  discovered  in  the  lias  of  Lyme  Regis,  and  in 
oolitic  slate  of  Stonesficld. 


172  FLYING  SAURIANS. 

presence  of  characters  apparently  belonging  to  each  of  the 
three  classes  to  which  it  was  referred.  The  form  of  its 
head,  and  length  of  neck,  resembling  that  of  birds,  its  wings 
approaching  to  the  proportion  and  form  of  those  of  bats,  and 
the  body  and  tail  approximating  to  those  of  ordinary  Mam- 
malia. These  characters,  connected  with  a  small  skull,  as 
is  usual  among  reptiles,  and  a  beak  furnished  with  not  less 
than  sixty  pointed  teeth,  presented  a  combination  of  apparent 
anomalies  which  it  was  reserved  for  the  genius  of  Cuvier  to 
reconcile.  In  his  hands,  this  apparently  monstrous  produc- 
tion of  the  ancient  world,  has  been  converted  into  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  examples  yet  afforded  by  comparative  anato- 
my, of  the  harmony  that  pervades  all  nature,  in  the  adapta- 
tion of  the  same  parts  of  the  animal  frame,  to  infinitely  va- 
ried conditions  of  existence. 

In  the  case  of  the  Pterodactyle  we  have  an  extinct  genus 
of  the  Order  Saurians,  in  the  class  of  Reptiles,  (a  class  that 
now  moves  only  on  the  land  or  in  the  water,)  adapted  by  a 
pecuharity  of  structure  to  fly  in  the  air.  It  will  be  interest- 
ing to  see  how  the  anterior  extremity,  which  in  the  fore-leg 
of  the  modern  Lizard  and  Crocodiles  is  an  organ  of  locomo- 
tion on  land,  became  converted  into  a  membraniferous  wing; 
and  how  far  the  other  parts  of  the  body  are  modified  so  as 
to  fit  the  entire  animal  machine  for  the  functions  of  flight. 
The  details  of  this  inquiry  will  afTord  such  striking  examples 
of  numerical  agreement  in  the  component  bones  of  every 
limb,  with  those  in  the  corresponding  limbs  of  living  Lizards, 
and  are  at  the  same  time  so  illustrative  of  contrivances  for 
the  adjustment  of  the  same  organ  to  effect  different  ends, 
that  I  shall  select  for  examination  a  few  points,  from  the 
long  and  beautiful  analysis  w^hich  Cuvier  has  given  of  the 
structure  of  this  animal. 

The  Pterodactyles  are  ranked  by  Cuvier  among  the 
most  extraordinary  of  all  the  extinct  animals  that  have 
come  under  his  consideration;  and  such  as,  if  we  saw 
them  restored  to  life,  would  appear  most  strange,  and  most 


PTERODACTYLE.  173 

linlike  to  any  thing  that  exists  in  the  present  world. — "  Ce 
sont  incontestablement  de  tous  les  etres  dont  ce  Uvre  nous 
revele  I'ancienne  existence,  les  plus  extraordinaires,  et  ceux 
qui,  si  on  les  voyat  vivans,  paroitroient  les  plus  etrangers  a 
toute  la  nature  actuelle."  (Cuv.  Oss.  Foss.  Vol.  V.  Pt.  11, 
p.  379. 

We  are  already  acquainted  with  eight  species  of  this 
genus,  varying  from  the  size  of  a  Snipe  to  that  of  a  Cormo- 
rant.* 

In  external  form,  these  animals  somewhat  resemble  our 
modern  Bats  and  Vampires :  most  of  them  had  the  nose 
elongated,  hke  the  snout  of  a  Crocodile,  and  armed  with 
conical  teeth.  Their  eyes  were  of  enormous  size,  appa- 
rently enabling  them  to  fly  by  night.  From  their  wings 
projected  fingers,  terminated  by  long  hooks,  like  the  curved 
claw  on  the  thumb  of  the  Bat.  These  must  have  formed  a 
powerful  paw,  wherewith  the  animal  was  enabled  to  creep 
or  climb,  or  suspend  itself  from  trees. 

It  is  probable  also  that  the  Ptcrodactyles  had  the  power 
of  swimming  which  is  so  common  in  reptiles,  and  which 

*  In  PI.  21,  I  have  given  an  engraving  of  the  Plerodactylus  longirostris, 
which  was  first  publislied  by  CoUini,  and  formed  the  basis  on  wliich  tJiia 
genus  was  established. 

At  Pi.  22,  O.  is  engraved  the  smallest  known  species,  P.  Breviostris  from 
Solenhofen,  described  by  Professor  Soemmering. 

A  figure  and  description  of  a  third  species,  P.  macronyx,  from  the  lias  at 
Lyme  Regis,  have  been  published  by  myself,  (Geol.  Trans.  Loud,  second 
series.  Vol.  3,  Pt.  J.)  This  species  was  about  the  size  of  a  Raven,  and  its 
wings,  when  expanded,  must  have  been  about  four  feet  from  tip  to  tip.  A 
fourth  species,  P.  crassirostris-,  has  been  described  by  Professor  Guldfuss. 
In  PI.  22,  N.  I  have  given  a  reduced  copy  of  his  plate  of  the  specimen  ;  and 
ill  PI.  22,  A.  a  copy  of  his  restoration  of  the  entire  animal.  Count  Munster 
has  described  another  species,  P.  medius,  Ciivier  describes  some  bones  of  a 
species,  P.  grandis,  four  times  as  large  as  P.  longirostris,  which  latter  was 
about  the  size  of  a  Woodcock.  Professor  Goldfuss  has  described  a  seventh 
species  from  Solenhofen,  P.  fllunstcri  ;  and  has  proposed  the  name  P.  Buck  ■ 
landi,  for  the  eighth  undescribed  species  found  at  Stoaesficld. 

15* 


174  FLYING  SAURIANS. 

is  now  possessed  by  the  Pteropus  Pselaphon,  or  Vampire 
Bat  of  the  island  of  Bonin.  (See  Zool.  Journ.  No.  16,  p. 
458.)  "  Thus,  like  Milton's  fiend,  all  qualified  for  all  ser- 
vices and  all  elements,  the  creature  was  a  fit  companion  for 
the  kindred  reptiles  that  swarmed  in  the  seas,  or  crawled  on 
the  shores  of  a  turbulent  planet. 

'  The  Fiend, 
O'er  b'lSl',  or  steep,  through  strait,  rougli,  dense,  or  rare. 
With  head,  hands,  wings,  or  feet,  pursues  his  way, 
And  swims,  or  sinks,  or  wades,  or  creeps,  or  flies.' 

Paradise  Lost,  Book  II.  line  947. 

With  flocks  of  such  like  creatures  flying  in  the  air,  and 
shoals  of  no  less  monstrous  Ichthyosauri  and  Plesiosauri 
swarming  in  the  ocean,  and  gigantic  Crocodiles,  and  Tor- 
toises crawling  on  the  shores  of  the  primeval  lakes  and 
rivers,  air,  sea,  and  land  must  have  been  strangely  tenanted 
in  these  early  periods  of  our  infant  world."* 

As  the  most  obvious  feature  of  these  fossil  reptiles  is  the 
presence  of  organs  of  flight,  it  is  natural  to  look  for  the 
peculiarities  of  the  Bird  or  Bat,  in  the  structure  of  their 
component  bones.  All  attempts,  however,  to  identify  them 
with  Birds  are  stopped  at  once  by  the  fact  of  their  having 
teeth  in  the  beak,  resembling  those  of  reptiles :  the  form  of 
a  single  bone,  the  os  quadratum,  enabled  Cuvier  to  pro- 
nounce at  once  that  the  creature  was  a  Lizard  :  but  a 
Lizard  possessing  wings  exists  not  in  the  present  creation, 
and  is  to  be  found  only  among  the  Dragons  of  romance 
and  heraldry  ;t  while  a  moment's  comparison  of  the  head 

»  Geol.  Trans.  Lond.  N.  S.  Vol.  III.  pnrt.  1. 

t  One  diminutive  living  species  of  Lizard,  (the  Draco  volans,  see  PI. 
92,  L.)  differs  from  all  other  Saurians,  in  having  an  appearance  of  im- 
perfect wings,  produced  by  a  membranous  expansion  of  the  skin  over 
the  false  ribs  which  project  almost  horizontally  from  the  back;  tJie 
jnembranc  expanded  by  thc>e  false  ribs,  acts  like  a  parachute  to  support 
the  animal   in  leaping   from   tree  to  tree,  but   has  no  power  to  beat  the 


PTERODACTYLE»  175 

and  teeth  with  those  of  Bats  (PL  21,  and  PL  22,  MO  shows 
that  the  fossil  animals  in  question  cannot  be  referred  to  that 
family  of  flying  Mammalia. 

The  vertebrae  of  the  neck  are  much  elongated,  and  are 
six  or  seven  only  in  number,  whereas  they  vary  from  nine 
to  twenty-three  in  birds.*  In  birds  the  vertebrae  of  the 
back  also  vary  from  seven  to  eleven,  whilst  in  the  Ptero- 
dactyles  there  are  nearly  twenty ;  the  ribs  of  the  Pterodac- 
tyles  are  thin  and  thread-shaped,  like  those  of  Lizards,  those 
of  birds  are  flat  and  broad,  with  a  still  broader  recurrent 
apophysis,  peculiar  to  them.  In  the  foot  of  birds,  the  meta- 
tarsal bones  are  consolidated  into  one  :  in  the  Pterodactyles 
all  the  metatarsal  bones  are  distinct ;  the  bones  of  the  pelvis 
also  difl^er  widely  from  those  of  a  bird,  and  resemble  those 
of  a  Lizard;  all  these  points  of  agreement,  with  the  type  of 
Lizards,  and  of  difl^erence  from  the  character  of  birds,  leave 
no  doubt  as  to  the  place  in  which  the  Pterodactyles  must 
be  ranged,  among  the  Lizards,  notwithstanding  the  approxi- 
mation which  the  possession  of  wings  seems  to  give  them  to 
Birds  or  Bats. 

The  number  and  proportions  of  the  bones  in  the  fingers 
and  toes  in  the  Pterodactyle,  require  to  be  examined  in  some 

air,  or  become  an  instrument  of  true  flight,  like  the  arm  or  wing  of  Birds 
and  Bats  ;  the  arm  or  fore  leg  of  tlie  Draco  volans  differs  not  from  that  of 
common  Lizards. 

*  In  one  species  of  Pterodactyle,  viz.  the  P.  macronyx,  Geo!.  Trans. 
N.  s.  V.  iii.  pi.  27,  p.  page  220,  from  the  lias  at  Lyme  Regis,  there  is  an 
unusual  provision  for  giving  support  and  movement  to  a  large  head  at 
the  extremity  of  a  long  neck,  by  the  occurrence  of  bony  tendons  running 
parallel  to  the  cervical  vertebrae,  like  the  tendons  that  pass  along  the  back 
of  the  Pigmy  Musk,  (Mosclius  pigmsus,)  and  of  many  birds.  This  pro- 
vision does  not  occur  in  any  modern  Lizards,  whose  necks  are  short,  and  re- 
quire no  such  aid  to  support  the  head.  In  the  compensation  which  these 
tendons  afforded  for  the  weakness  arising  from  the  elongation  of  the  neck, 
we  have  an  example  of  the  same  mechanism  in  an  extinct  order  of  the  most 
ancient  reptiles,  which  is  still  applied  to  strengthen  other  parts  of  the  verte- 
bral column,  in  aftw  existing- species  of  mammalia  and  birds. 


176  FLYING  SAURIANS. 

detail,  as  they  afford  coincidences  with  the  bones  in  the  cor^ 
responding  parts  of  Lizards,  from  which  important  conclu> 
sions  may  be  derived. 

As  an  insulated  fact,  it  may  seem  to  be  of  little  moment, 
whether  a  living  Lizard  or  a  fossil  Pterodactyle,  might  have 
four  or  five  joints  in  its  fourth  finger,  or  its  fourth  toe;  but 
those  who  have  patience  to  examine  the  manutise  of  this 
structure,  will  find  in  it  an  exemplification  of  the  general 
principle,  that  things  apparently  minute  and  trifling  in  them- 
selves, may  acquire  importance,  when  viewed  in  connexion 
with  others,  which,  taken  singly,  appear  equally  insignifi- 
cant. Minutiae  of  this  kind,  viewed  in  their  conjoint  rela- 
tions to  the  parts  and  proportions  of  other  animals,  may  il- 
lustrate points  of  high  importance  in  physiology,  and  there- 
by become  connected  with  the  still  higher  considerations  of 
natural  theology.  If  we  examine  the  fore-foot  of  the  exist- 
ing Lizards,  (PI.  22,  b.)  we  find  the  number  of  joints  regu- 
larly increased  by  the  addition  of  one,  as  we  proceed  from 
the  first  finger,  or  thumb,  which  has  two  joints,  to  the  third, 
in  which  there  are  four;  this  is  precisely  the  numerical  ar-^ 
rangement  which  takes  place  in  the  first  three  fingers  of  the 
hand  of  the  Pterodactyle;  (PI.  22,  c.  d.  e.  n.  o.  Figs.  30 — 
38.  Thus  far  the  first  three  fingers  of  the  fossil  reptile 
agree  in  structure  with  those  of  the  fore-foot  of  living  Li- 
zards; but  as  the  hand  of  the  Pterodactyle  was  to  be  con- 
verted into  an  organ  of  flight,  the  joints  of  the  fourth,  or 
fifth  finger  were  lengthened,  to  become  expansors  of  a  mem- 
branous wing.* 

*  Tlius  in  tlie  p.  Longirostris  (PI.  21,  39—42.)  and  P.  Erevirostris,  (PI. 
22,  Fig.  O,  39—42,)  the  fourth  finger  is  stated  by  Cuvier  to  have  four 
elongated  joints,  and  the  fifth  or  ungu;ii  joint  to  be  otr.iltcd,  as  its  presence  is 
unnceessury.  In  the  P.  Crassirostris,  according  toGoidfuss  (Pi.  22,  Figs,  a, 
N,)  this  claw  is  present  upon  the  fourth  finger,  (43)  which  thus  has  five 
bones,  and  llie  filth  finger  is  elongated  to  carry  the  wing.  Throughout  all 
these  arrangements  in  the  fore-foot,  the  normal  numbers  of  the  type  of  Li- 
zards are  mainlaitied. 

If,  as  appears  from   the  specimen  engraved   by   Goldfuss,  of  P.  Crassi- . 


PTERODACTYLE.  177 

As  the  bones  in  the  wing  of  the  Pterodactyle  thus  agree 
in  number  and  proportion  with  those  in  the  fore-foot  of  the 
Lizard,  so  do  they  differ  entirely  from  the  arrangement  of 
the  bones  which  form  the  expansors  of  the  wing  of  the 
Bat.* 

The  total  number  of  toes  in  the  Pterodactyles  is  usually 
four ;  the  exterior,  or  little  toe,  being  deficient ;  if  we  com- 
pare the  number  and  proportion  of  the  joints  in  these  four 
toes  with  those  of  Lizards,  (PL  22,  f,  g,  h,  i,)  we  find  the 
agreement  as  to  number,  to  be  not  less  perfect  than  it  is  in 
the  fingers ;  we  have,  in  each  case,  two  joints  in  the  first, 
or  great  toe,  three  in  the  second,  four  in  the  third,  and  five 
in  the  fourth.  As  to  proportion  also,  the  penultimate  joint 
is  always  the  longest,  and  the  antepenultimate,  or  last  but 
two,  the  shortest;  these  relative  proportions  are  also  pre- 
cisely the  same,  as  in  the  feet  of  Lizards.f     The  apparent 


rostris,  (PJ.  22,  n,  44,  45,)  the  fifth  finger  was  elongated  to  expand  the 
wing,  we  sliould  infer  from  the  normal  number  of  joints  in  the  fifth  finger 
of  Lizards  being  only  three,  that  tills  wing  finger  had  but  tiiree  joints.  In 
the  fossil  itself  the  first  two  joints  only  arc  preserved,  so  that  his  conjectural 
addition  of  a  fourth  joint  to  the  fifth  finger,  in  the  restored  figure,  (PI.  22, 
A,  47  )  seems  inconsistent  with  the  analogies,  that  pervade  the  structure  of 
this,  and  of  every  other  species  of  Pterodactyle,  as  described  by  Cuvier. 

*  The  Bat,  see  PI.  22,  m,  30,  31,  the  first  finger  or  thumb  alone,  is  free, 
and  applied  to  the  purpose  of  suspension  and  creeping;  the  expansors  of  the 
wing  are  formed  by  the  metacarpal  bones,  (26 — 29,)  much  elongated  and 
terminated  by  tlie  minute  phalanges  of  the  other  four  fingers,  32 — 45,  thus 
presenting  an  adaptation  of  the  hand  of  the  mammalia  to  the  purposes  of 
flight,  analogous  to  that  which  in  the  fossil  world,  the  Pterodactyle  affords 
with  respect  to  the  hand  of  Lizards. 

+  According  to  Goldfuss  the  P.  Crassirostris  had  one  more  toe  than  Cuvier 
assigns  to  the  other  species  of  Pterodactyles;  in  this  respect  it  is  so  far  from 
violating  the  analogies  we  are  considering,  that  it  adds  another  approxi- 
mation to  the  cliaraett-r  of  the  living  Lizards;  we  have  seen  that  it  also  differs 
from  the  other  Pterodactyles,  in  having  the  fifth,  instead  of  the  fourth  finger 
elongated,  to  become  the  expansor  of  the  wing. 

It  is  however  probable  that  the  fifth  toe  had  only  three  joints,  for  the 


178  FLYING    SAURIANS. 

use  of  this  disposition  of  tiie  shortest  joints  in  the  middle  of 
the  toes  of  Lizards,  is  to  give  greater  power  of  flexion  for 
bending  round,  and  laying  fast  hold  on  twigs  and  branches 
of  trees  of  various  dimensions,  or  on  inequalities  of  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground  or  rocks,  in  the  act  of  climbing,  or  run- 
ning.* 

All  these  coincidences  of  number  and  proportion,  can 
only  have  originated  in  a  premeditated  adaptation  of  each 
part  to  its  peculiar  office ;  they  teach  us  to  arrange  an  ex- 
tinct animal  under  an  existing  family  of  reptiles ;  and  when 
we  find  so  many  other  peculiarities  of  this  tribe  in  almost 
every  bone  of  the  skeleton  of  the  Pterodactyle,  with  such 
modifications,  and  such  only  as  were  necessary  to  fit  it  for 
the  purposes  of  flight,  we  perceive  unity  of  design  per- 
vading every  part,  and  adapting  to  motion  in  the  air,  organs 
which  in  other  genera  are  calculated  for  progression  on  the 
ground,  or  in  the  water. 

If  we  compare  the  foot  of  the  Pterodactyle  with  that  of 
the  Bat,  (see  PI.  22,  k,)  we  shall  find  that  the  Bat,  like  most 
other  mammalia,  has  three  joints  in  every  toe,  excepting 
the  first,  which  has  only  two ;  still  these  two,  in  the  Bat,  are 
equal  in  length  to  the  three  bones  of  the  other  toes,  so  that 
the  five  claws  of  its  foot  range  in  one  strait  line,  forming- 
altogether  the  compound  hook,  by  which  the  animal  sus- 
pends itself  in  caves,  with  its  head  downwards,  during  its 
long  periods  of  hybernation ;  the  weight  of  its  body  being, 
by  this  contrivance,  equally  divided  between  each  of  the  ten 
toes.  The  unequal  length  of  the  toes -of  the  Pterodactyle 
must  have  rendered  it  almost  impossible  for  its  claws  to 
range  uniformly  in  line,  like  those  of  the  Bat,  and  as  no 
single  claw  could  have  supported  for  a  long  time  the  weight 

same  reasons  that  are  assigned  respecting  the  number  of  joints  in  the  fiftli 
finger.  In  the  P.  Longirostris,  Cuvier  considers  the  small  bone,  (PI.  21,  5, 
6,)  to  be  a  rudimentary  form  of  the  fifth  toe. 

*  A  sirnilur  numerical  disposition  prevails  also  in  the   toes  of  birds,  at. 
tended  by  similar  advantages. 


PTERODACTYLE.  179 

of  the  whole  body,  we  may  infer  that  the  Pterodactyles  did 
not  suspend  themselves  after  the  manner  of  the  Bats.  The 
size  and  form  of  the  foot,  and  also  of  the  leg  and  thigh, 
show  that  they  had  the  power  of  standing  firmly  on  the 
ground,  where,  with  their  wings  folded,  they  possibly  moved 
after  the  manner  of  birds ;  they  could  also  perch  on  tress, 
and  climb  on  rocks  and  cliffs,  with  their  hind  and  fore-feet 
conjointly  like  bats  and  Lizards. 

With  regard  to  their   food,  it  has  been  conjectured  by 
Cuvier,  that  they  fed  on  insects,  and  from  the  magnitude  of 
their  eyes  that  they  may  also  have  been  noctivagous.     The 
presence  of  large  fossil  Libelluls,  or  Dragon-flies,  and  many 
other  insects,  in  the    same   lithographic  quarries  with  the 
Pterodactyles  at  Solenhofen,  and  of  the  wings  of  coleopte- 
rous insects,  mixed  with  bones  of  Pterodactyles,  in  the  oolitic 
slate  of  Stonesficid,  near  Oxford,  proves  that  large  insects 
existed  at  the  same  time  with  them,  and  may  have  contri- 
buted to  their  supply  of  food.     We  know  that  many  of  the 
smaller  Lizards  of  existing  species  are  insectivorous:  some 
are  also  carnivorous,  and  others  omnivorous,  but  the  head 
and  teeth  of  two  species  of  Pterodactyle,  are  so  much  larger 
and  stronger  than  is  necessary  for  the  capture  of  insects, 
that  the  larger  species  of  them  may  possibly  have  fed  on 
fishes,  darting  upon  them  from  the  air  after  the  manner  of 
Sea  Swallows  and  Solan  Geese.     The  enormous  size  and 
strength  of  the  head  and  teeth  of  the  P.  Crassirostris,  would 
not  only  have  enabled  it  to  catch  fish,  but  also  to  kill  and  de- 
vour the  few  small  marsupial  mammalia  which  then  existed 
upon  the  land. 

The  entire  range  of  ancient  anatomy,  affords  few  more 
striking  examples  of  the  uniformity  of  the  laws,  which  con- 
nect the  extinct  animals  of  the  fossil  creation  with  existing 
organized  beings,  than  those  we  have  been  examining  in  the 
case  of  the  Pterodactyle.  We  find  the  details  of  parts 
which,  from  their  minuteness  should  seem  insignificant,  ac- 
quiring great  importance  in  such  an  investigation  as  we 


180  GIGANTIC  TERRESTRIAL  SAURIANS. 

are  now  conducting ;  they  show  not  less  distinctly,  than  the 
colossal  limbs  of  the  most  gigantic  quadrupeds,  a  numerical 
coincidence,  and  a  concurrence  of  proportions,  which  it 
seems  impossible  to  refer  to  the  effect  of  accident;  and 
which  point  out  unity  of  purpose,  and  deliberate  design,  in 
some  intelligent  First  Cause,  from  which  they  were  all  de- 
rived. We  have  seen  that  whilst  all  the  laws  of  existing  or- 
ganization in  the  order  of  Lizards,  are  rigidly  maintained 
in  the  Pterodactyles ;  still,  as  Lizards  modified  to  move  like 
birds  and  Bats  in  the  air,  they  received,  in  each  part  of  their 
frame,  a  perfect  adaptation  to  their  state.  We  have  dwelt 
more  at  length  on  the  minutiae  of  their  mechanism,  because 
they  convey  us  back  into  ages  so  exceedingly  remote,  and 
show  that  even  in  those  distant  eras,  the  same  care  of  a 
common  Creator,  which  we  witness  in  the  mechanism  of 
our  own  bodies,  and  those  of  the  myriads  of  inferior  crea- 
tures that  move  around  us,  was  extended  to  the  structure  of 
creatures,  that  at  first  sight  seem  made  up  only  of  monstro- 
sities. 


SECTION  IX. 

MEGALOSAURUS.* 

The  Megalosaurus,  as  its  name  implies,  was  a  Lizard,  of 
great  size,  of  which,  although  no  skeleton  has  yet  been  found 
entire,  so  many  perfect  bones  and  teeth  have  been  discovered 

*  This  genus  was  established  by  the  Author,  in  a  Memoir,  published 
in  the  Geol.  Trans,  of  London,  (Vol.  I.,  N.  S.  Pt.  2,  1824,)  and  was  founded 
upon  specimens  discovered  in  the  oolitic  slate  of  Stonesfield,  near  Oxford, 
the  place  in  which  these  bones  have  as  yet  chiefly  occurred.  Mr.  Mantell 
has  discovered  remains  of  the  same  animal  in  the  Wealden  fresh-water  for- 
mation  of  Tilgate  Forest;  and  from  this  circumstance  we  infer  that  it  existed 
during*  the  deposition  of  the  entire  series  of  oolitic  strata.     The  author,  in 


MEGALOSAURUS.  181 

in  the  same  quarries,  that  we  are  nearly  as  well  acquainted 
with  the  form  and  dimensions  of  its  limbs,  as  if  they  had 
been  found  together  in  a  single  block  of  stone. 

From  the  size  and  proportions  of  these  bones,  as  com- 
pared with  existing  Lizards,  Cuvier  concludes  the  Megalo- 
saurus  to  have  been  an  enormous  reptile,  measuring  from 
forty  to  fifty  feet  in  length,  and  partaking  of  the  structure  of 
the  Crocodile  and  Monitor. 

As  the  femur  and  tibia  measure  nearly  three  feet  each, 
the  entire  hind-leg  must  have  attained  a  length  of  nearly 
two  yards :  a  metatarsal  bone,  thirteen  inches  long,  indi- 
cates a  corresponding  length  in  the  foot.*  The  bones  of 
the  thigh  and  leg  are  not  solid  at  the  centre,  as  in  Croco- 
diles, and  other  aquatic  quadrupeds,  but  have  large  medul- 
lary cavities,  like  the  bones  of  terrestrial  animals.  We  learn 
from  this  circumstance,  added  to  the  character  of  the  foot, 
that  the  Megalosaurus  Hved  chiefly  upon  the  land. 

In  the  internal  condition  of  these  fossil  bones,  we  see  the 
same  adaptation  of  the  skeleton  to  its  proper  clement,  which 
now  distinguishes  the  bones  of  terrestrial,  from  those  of 
aquatic  Saurians.f  In  the  Ichthyosauri  and  Plesiosauri, 
whose  paddles  were  calculated  exclusively  to  move  in 
water,  even  the  largest  bones  of  the  arms  and  legs  were 
solid  throughout.  Their  weight  would  in  no  way  have 
embarrassed  their  action  in  the  fluid  medium  they  inhabited; 
but  in  the  huge  Megalosaurus,  and  stiU  more  gigantic 
Iguanodon,  which  are  shown  by  the  character  of  their  feet 
to  have  been  fitted  to  move  on  land,  the  larger  bones  of  the 
legs  were  diminished  in  weight,  by  being  internally  hollow, 
and  having  their  cavities  filled  with  the  light  material  of 

1826,  saw  fragments  of  a  jaw,  containing  teeth,  and  of  some  other  bones 
of  Megalosaurus,  in  the  museum  at  Bcsangon,  from  the  oolite  of  that  neigh- 
bourhood. 

•  See  Geo).  Trans.  2d  series,  Vol.  3,  p.  437,  PI.  41. 

t  I  learn  from  Mr.  Owen  that  the  long  bones  of  land  Tortoises  have  a 
close  cancellous  internal  structure,  but  not  a  medullary  cavity. 

VOL.  I. 16 


182  GIGANTIC  TERRESTRIAL  SAURIANS. 

marrow,  while  their  cylindrical  form  tended  also  to  connbine 
this  lightness  with  strength.* 

The  form  of  the  teeth  shows  the  Megalosaurus  to  have 
been  in  a  high  degree  carnivorous :  it  probably  fed  on 
smaller  reptiles,  such  as  Crocodiles  and  Tortoises,  whose 
remains  abound  in  the  same  strata  with  its  bones.  It  may 
also  have  taken  to  the  water  in  pursuit  of  Plesiosauri  and 
fishes.f 

The  most  important  part  of  the  Megalosaurus  yet  found, 
consists  of  a  fragment  of  the  lower  jaw,  containing  many 

*  The  medullary  cavities  in  (lie  fossil   bones  of  llie   Megalosaurup,  from 
Stonesfield,  are  usually  filled  with  calcareous  spar.     In  the  Oxford  Museum 
there  is  a  specimen  from  the  Wealden  fresh-watcr  formation  at  Langton,  near 
Tunbridge  Wells,  which  is  perhaps  unique  amongst  organic  remains:  it  pre- 
sents the   curious  fact  of  a  perfect  cast  of  tlie  interior  of  a   large  bone,  ap- 
parently the  femur  of  a  Megalosaurus,  exliib;ling  the  exact  form  and  ramifi- 
cations of  the  marrow,   whilst   the  bone  itself  has  entirely  perished.     The 
substance  of  this  cast  is  fine  sand,   cemented   by    oxide  of  iron,    and    its 
form  distinctly  represents  all  the  minute  reticulations,  with  which  the  mar- 
row filled  the  inlercoluminations  of  the  cancelii,  near  the    extremity  of  the 
bone.     It  exhibits  also  casts  of  the  perforations  along  the  internal  panetes, 
whereby  the  vessels  entered  obliquely  from  the  exterior  of  the  bone,  to  com- 
municate with  the  marrow,     A  mould  of  the  exterior  of  the  same  bone  has 
been  also  formed  by  the  sandstone  in  which  it  was  imbedded;  hence  although 
the  bone  itself  has  perished,  we  have  precise  representations  both  of  its  ex- 
ternal  form  and   internal  cavities,  and   a  model    of  the  marrow  that  filled 
this  femur,  nearly  as  perfect  as  could  be    made  by  pouring  wax  into  an 
empty  marrow  bone,  and  corroding  away  the   bone  with  acid.     The  sand 
which  formed  this  cast  must  have   entered  the  medullary  cavity  by  a  frac- 
ture across  the  other  extremity  of  the  bone,  which  was  wanting  in  the  spe- 
cimen. 

From  this  natural  preparation  of  ancient  anatomy  we  learn  that  the  dis- 
position of  marrow,  and  its  connexion  with  the  reticulated  extremities  of  the 
interior  of  the  femur,  were  the  same  in  these  gigantic  Lizards  of  a  former 
world,  as  in  medullary  cavities  of  existing  species. 

t  Mr.  Broderip  informs  me  that  a  living  Iguana  (I.  Tuberculata,)  in  the 
gardens  of  the  Zoological  Society  of  London,  in  the  summer  of  1834,  was 
observed  frequently  to  enter  the  water,  and  swim  across  a  small  pond,  using^ 
its  long  tail  as  the  instrument  of  progression,  and  keeping  its  fore-feet  mo- 
tionless. 


MEGALOSAURUS.  183 

teeth,  (PI.  23,  Figs.  ] '— 2'.)  The  form  of  this  jaw  shows 
that  the  head  was  terminated  by  a  straight  and  narrow 
snout,  compressed  laterally  like  that  of  the  Delphinus  Gan- 
geticus. 

As  in  all  animals,  the  jaws  and  teeth  form  the  most  cha- 
racteristic parts,  I  shall  limit  my  present  observations  to  a 
few  strikinfT  circumstances  in  the  dentition  of  the  Mejialo- 
saurus.  From  these  we  learn  that  the  animal  was  a  reptile, 
closely  allied  to  some  of  our  modern  Lizards  ;  and  viewing 
the  teeth  as  instruments  for  providing  food  to  a  carnivorous 
creature  of  enormous  magnitude,  they  appear  to  have  been 
admirably  adapted  to  the  destructive  office  for  which  thev 
were  designed.  Their  form  and  mechanism  will  best  be 
explained  by  reference  to  the  figures  in  PI.  23.* 

In  the  structure  of  these  teeth,  (PI.  23,  Figs.  1,  2,  3,)  we 
find  a  combination  of  mechanical  contrivances  analogous 
to  those  which  are  adopted  in  the  construction  of  the  knife, 
the  sabre,  and  the  saw.  When  first  protruded  above  the 
gum,  (PI.  23,  Figs.  I'.  2'.)  the  apex  of  each  tooth  presented 
a  double  cutting  edge  of  serrated  enamel.  In  this  stage, 
its  position  and  line  of  action  were  nearly  vertical,  and  its 

♦  The  outer  margin  of  the  juw  (PI.  23,  Fig-.  1'.  2'.)  rises  nearly  an  inch 
above  its  inner  margin,  forming  a  continuous  lateral  parapet  to  support  the 
teeth  on  the  exterior  side,  where  the  greatest  support  was  necessary  ;  whilst 
the  inner  margin  (PI.  23,  Fig.  1')  throws  up  a  scries  of  triangular  plates  of 
bono,  forming  a  z'g-zag  buttress  along  the  interior  of  the  alveoli.  From  the 
centre  of  each  triangular  plate,  a  bony  partition  crosses  to  the  outer  parapet, 
thus  completing  the  successive  alveoli.  The  ncwteuth  are  seen  in  the  angle 
between  each  triangular  plate,  rising  in  reserve  to  supply  the  loss  of  the 
older  teeth,  as  often  as  progressive  growth,  or  accidental  fracture,  may 
render  such  renewal  necessary  ;  and  thus  affording  an  exuberant  provision 
for  a  rapid  succession  and  restoration  of  these  most  essential  implements- 
They  were  formed  in  distinct  cavities,  by  the  side  of  the  old,  teeth, 
towards  the  interior  surface  of  the  jaw,  and  probably  expelled  them  by 
the  usual  process  of  pressure  and  absorption ;  insinuating  themselves  into 
the  cavities  thus  left  vacant.  This  coiiirjvance  for  the  renewal  of  teeth  is 
strictly  analogous  to  that  which  takes  place  in  the  dentition  of  many  species 
of  existing  Lizards. 


184  GIGANTIC    TERRESTRIAL    SAURIANS. 

form  like  thai  of  the  two-edged  point  of  a  sabre,  cutting 
equally  on  each  side.  As  the  tooth  advanced  in  growth,  it 
became  curved  backwards,  in  the  form  of  a  pruning  knife, 
(PI.  23,  Figs.  1.  2.  3.)  and  the  edge  of  serrated  enamel  was 
continued  downwards  to  the  base  of  the  inner  and  cutting 
side  of  the  tooth,  (Fig.  1 ,  B.  D.)  whilst,  on  the  outer  side, 
a  similar  edge  descended,  but  to  a  short  distance  from  the 
point  (Fig.  1,  B.  to  C.)  and  the  convex  portion  of  the  tooth 
(A.)  became  blunt  and  thick,  as  the  back  of  a  knife  is  made 
thick,  for  the  purpose  of  producing  strength.  The  strength 
of  the  tooth  was  farther  increased  by  the  expansion  of  its 
sides,  (as  represented  in  the  transverse  section,  Fig.  4,  A.  D.) 
Had  the  serrature  continued  along  the  whole  of  the  blunt 
and  convex  portion  of  the  tooth,  it  would,  in  this  position, 
have  possessed  no  useful  cutting  power  ;  it  ceased  precisely 
at  the  point,  (C.)  beyond  which  it  could  no  longer  be  effective 
In  a  tooth  thus  formed  for  cutting  along  its  concave  edge, 
eacii  movement  of  the  jaw  combined  the  power  of  the  knife 
and  saw ;  whilst  the  apex,  in  making  the  first  incision,  acted 
like  the  two-edged  point  of  a  sabre.  The  backward  cur- 
vature of  the  full-grown  teeth,  enabled  them  to  retain,  like 
barbs,  the  prey  which  they  had  penetrated.  In  these 
adaptations,  we  see  contrivances,  which  human  ingenuity 
has  also  adopted,  in  the  preparation  of  various  instruments 
of  art. 

In  a  former  chapter  (Ch.  XIII.)  I  endeavoured  to  show 
that  the  establishment  of  carnivorous  races  throughout  the 
animal  kingdom  tends  materially  to  diminish  the  aggregate 
amount  of  animal  suffering.  The  provision  of  teeth  and 
jaws,  adapted  to  effect  the  work  of  death  most  speedily,  is 
highly  subsidiary  to  the  accomplishment  of  this  desirable 
end.  We  act  ourselves  on  this  conviction,  under  the  im- 
pulse of  pure  humanity,  when  we  provide  the  most  efficient 
instruments  to  produce  the  instantaneous,  and  most  easy 
death,  of  the  innumerable  animals  that  are  daily  slaughtered 
for  the  supply  of  human  food. 


IGUANODON.       HYL^OSAURUS.  185 


SECTION  X. 


IGUANODO  N.* 

As  the  reptiles  hitherto  considered  appear  from  their  teeth 
to  have  been  carnivorous,  so  we  find  extinct  species  of  the 
same  great  family,  that  assume  the  character  and  office  of 
herbivora.  For  our  knowledge  of  this  genus,  we  are  in- 
debted to  the  scientific  researches  of  Mr.  Mantell.  This 
indefatigable  historian  of  the  Wealden  fresh-water  forma- 
tion, has  not  only  found  the  remains  of  the  Plesiosaurus, 
Megalosaurus,  HylasosauruSjf  and  several  species  of  Cro- 
codiles and  Tortoises  in  these  deposites,  of  a  period  inter- 
mediate between  the  oolitic  and  cretaceous  series,  but  has 
also  discovered  in  Tilgate  Forest  the  remains  of  the  Iguano- 
don,  a  reptile  much  more  gigantic  than  the  Megalosaurus, 
and  which,  from  llie  character  of  its  teeth,  appears  to  have 
been  herbivorous.J     The  teeth  of  the  Iguanodon  are  so  pre- 

*  See  PI.  1,  F\)r.  45,  and  PI.  24  ;  and  Mantell's  Geology  of  Sussex,  and  of 
the  soQlIi-east  of  lOngland. 

t  The  Hylaeosaurus,  or  Lizard  of  tlie  Weald,  was  discovered  in  Tilgale 
Forest,  in  Sussex,  in  1832.  This  extraordinary  Lizard  was  probably  about 
twenty  five  feet  long^.  Its  most  peculiar  character  consists  in  the  remains 
of  a  series  of  lon^r,  fl;it,  and  pointed  bones,  which  seems  to  have  formed  an 
enormous  dermal  friiigCi  liiie  the  horny  spines  on  the  back  of  the  modern 
Iguana.  These  bones  vary  in  length  from  five  to  seventeen  inches,  and  in 
width  from  three  t  >  seven  inches  and  a  half  at  the  base.  Together  with 
them  were  found  the  remains  of  large  dermal  bortes,  or  thick  scales  which 
were  probably  lodged  in  the  skin. 

t  The  Iguanodon  has  hitiierto  been  found  only,  with  one  exception,  in  the 
Wealden  fresh-water  formation  of  the  south  of  England,  (PI.  1,  section  22.J 
intermediate  between  the  marine  oolitic  deposites  of  the  Portland  stone  and 
those  of  the  green-sand  formation  in  the  cetaceous  series.  The  discovery, 
in  1834,  (Phil.  Msg.  July,  1834,  p.  77.)  of  a  large  proportion  of  the  skeleton 
of  one  of  these  animals,  in  strata  of  the  latter  formation,  in  the  quarries 
«f  Kentish  Rag,  near  Maidstone,  shows   that  the   duration   of  this  animal 

16* 


186  GIGANTIC  TERRESTRIAL  SAUSIANS. 

cisely  similar,  in  the  principles  of  their  construction,  to  the 
teeth  of  the  modern  Iguana,  as  to  leave  no  doubt  of  the  near 
connexion  of  this  most  gigantic  extinct  reptile  with  the 
Iguanas  of  our  own  time.  When  we  consider  that  the 
largest  living  Iguana  rarely  exceeds  five  feet  in  length, 
whilst  the  congenerous  fossil  animal  must  have  been  nearly 
twelve  times  as  long,  we  cannot  but  be  impressed  by  the 
discovery  of  a  resemblance,  amounting  almost  to  identity, 
between  such  characteristic  organs  as  the  teeth,  in  one  of 
the  most  enormous  among  the  extinct  reptiles  of  the  fossil 
world,  and  those  of  a  genus  whose  largest  species  is  compa- 
ratively so  diminutive.  According  to  Cuvier,  the  common 
Iguana  inhabits  all  the  warm  regions  of  America :  it  lives 
chiefly  upon  trees,  eating  fruits,  and  seeds,  and  leaves.  The 
female  occasionally  visits  the  water,  for  the  purpose  of  lay- 
ing in  the  sand  its  eggs,  which  arc  about  the  size  of  those  of 
a  pigeon.* 

As  the  modern  Iguana  is  found  only  in  the  warmest  re- 
gions of  the  present  earth,  we   may  reasonably  infer  that  a 

did  not  cease  with  the  completion  of  the  Wealden  series.  The  individual 
from  which  this  skeleton  was  deiivcd  liad  probab'y  been  drifted  to  sea,  as 
those  which  afforded  the  bones  found  in  the  fresh-water  deposites  subjacent 
to  this  marine  formation,  had  been  drifted  into  an  estuary.  Tiiis  unique 
skelelon  is  now  in  the  museum  of  Mr.  Mantell,  and  confirms  nearly  all  his 
conjectures  respecting  the  many  insulated  bones  which  he  had  referred  to 
the  Iguanodon. 

*  In  the  Appendix  to  a  paper  in  the  Geol.  Trans.  Lnnd.  (N.  S.  Vol.  III. 
Pt.  3)  on  the  fossil  bones  of  the  Iguam  don,  found  in  the  Isle  of  Wight  and 
Isle  of  Purbeck,  I  have  mentioned  the  following  facts,  illustrative  of  the  her- 
bivorous habits  of  the  living  Iguana. 

In  the  spring  of  1829,  "  Mr.  VV.  J.  Broderip  saw  a  living  Iguana,  about 
two  fi-ct  long,  in  a  hot-house  at  Mr.  Miller's  nursery  gardens,  near  Bristol. 
It  had  refused  to  eat  insects,  and  other  kinds  of  animal  food,  until  happen- 
ing to  be  near  some  kidney-bean  plants  that  were  in  the  house  for  forcing, 
it  began  to  eat  of  their  leaves,  and  was  from  that  time  forth  supplied  from 
these  plants."  In  1828,  Captain  Belcher  found,  in  the  inland  of  Jsabella, 
swarms  of  Iguanas,  that  appeared  onniivorous  ;  they  fed  voraciously  on  the 
eggs  of  birds,  and  the  intestines  of  fowls  and  insects. 


IGUANODON.  187 

similar,  if  not  a  still  warmer  climate,  prevailed  at  the  time 
when  so  huge  a  Lizard  as  the  Iguanodon  inhabited  what  are 
now  the  temperate  regions  of  the  southern  coasts  of  England. 
We  know  from  the  fragment  of  a  femur,  in  the  collection 
of  Mr.  Mantell,  that  the  thigh-bone  of  this  reptile  much  ex- 
ceeded in  bulk  that  of  the  largest  Elephant:  this  fragment 
presents  a  circumference  of  twenty-two  inches  in  its  small- 
est part,  and  the  entire  length  must  have  been  between  four 
and  five  feet.  Comparing  the  proportions  of  this  monstrous 
bone  with  those  of  the  fossil  teeth  with  which  it  is  associated, 
it  appears  that  they  bear  to  one  another  nearly  the  same 
ratio  that  the  femur  of  the  Iguana  bears  to  the  similarly 
constructed  and  pecuhar  teeth  of  that  animal.* 

It  has  been  stated,  in  the  preceding  section,  that  the  large 
medullary  cavities  in  the  femur  of  the  Iguanodon,  and  the 
form  of  the  bones  of  the  feet,  show  that  this  animal,  like  the 
Megalosaurus,  was  constructed  to  move  on  land. 

A  farther  analogy  between  the  extinct  fossil  and  the  re- 
cent Iguana  is  offered  by  the  presence  in  both  of  a  horn  of 

*  From  a  careful  coniparisioii  of  llic  bones  of  the  Iguanodon  with  those  of 
the  Iguana,  made  by  taking  an  average  from  the  proportions  of  different 
bones  from  eight  separate  parts  of  the  respective  skeletons,  Mr.  Mantell 
has  arrived  at  these  dimensions  as  being  the  proportionate  measures  of  the 
following  parts  of  this  extraordinary  reptile  : 

Feet. 

Length  from  snout  to  tiic  extremity  of  the  tail  •         .         70 

Length  of  tail     -----.--.         52^ 

Cireumference  of  body        .--..-.         14^ 

Mr.  Mantel!  ealeulates  the   femur  of  tiie  Iguanodon  to  be  twenty  times  the 

size  of  that  of  a  modern  Iguana ;  but  a.;  animals  do  not  increase  in  length 

in  the  same  ratio  as  in  bulk,  it  do(^s  not  follow  that  the  Iguanodon  attained 

the  enormous  length  of  one  hundred  feet,  although  it  approached  perhaps 

nearly  to  seventy  feet. 

As  the  Iguanodon,  from  its  ennrni;.U3  bulk,  must  have  been  unable  to 
mount  on  trees,  it  could  not  have  ajip'ied  iis  tail  to  the  same  purpose  as  the 
Iguana,  to  assist  in  clinibing;  and  ilie  longitudinal  diameter  of  its  caudal 
vertebrce  is  much  less  in  proportion  fhan  in  the  Ignana,  and  shows  the  en- 
tiro  tail  to  have  been  comparatively  shorter. 


188  GIGANTIC  TERRESTRIAL  SAURIANS. 

bone  upon  the  nose,  (PI.  24,  Fig.  14.)  The  concurrence  of 
pecuharities  so  remarkable-  as  the  union  of  this  nasal  horn 
with  a  mode  of  dentition  of  which  there  is  no  example,  ex- 
cept in  the  Iguanas,  aflords  one  of  the  many  proofs  of  the 
universality  of  tlie  laws  of  co-cxistcncc,  which  prevailed 
no  less  constantly  thronghoiit  the  extinct  genera  and  species 
of  the  fossil  world,  than  they  do  among  the  living  members 
of  the  animal  kingdom. 

Teeth. 

As  the  teeth  arc  the  most  characteristic  and  important' 
parts  of  the  animal,  I  shall  endeavour  to  extract  from  them 
evidence  of  design,  both  in  their  construction  and  mode  of 
renewal,  and  also  in  their  adaptation  to  the  office  of  con- 
suming vegetables,  in  a  manner  peculiar  to  themselves. 
They  are  not  lodged  in  distinct  sockets,  like  the  teeth  of 
Crocodiles,  but  fixed,  as  in  Lizards,  along  the  internal  face 
of  the  dental  bone,  to  which  they  adhere  by  one  side  of  the 
bony  substance  of  their  root.     (PI.  24,  Fig.  1.3.) 

The  tooth  of  most  herbivorous  quadrupeds,  (exclusively 
of  the  defensive  tusks,)  are  divided  into  two  classes  of  dis- 
tinct oliicc,  viz.  incisors  and  molars;  the  former  destined  to 
collect  and  sever  vegetable  substances  from  the  ground,  or 
from  the  i)aront  plant;  the  latter  to  grind  and  masticate 
them  on  their  way  towards  the  stomach.  The  living  Igua- 
nas, which  are  in  great  part  herbivorous,  afford  a  striking 
exception  to  this  economy:  as  their  teeth  are  little  fitted  for 
grinding,  thov  transmit  tlicir  f)od  very  slightly  comminuted 
into  tho  stomacJi. 

Our  giunt  Ignanodon,  also,  bad  tooth  resembling  those  of 
the  Iguana,  and  of  so  herbivorous  a  character,  that  at  first 
sight  they  were  su))posed  by  Cuvier  to  be  the  teeth  of  a 
Rhinoceros. 

The  examination  of  these  teeth  will  lead  us  to  the  disr 


INGUANODON.  1S& 

covery  of  remarkable  contrivances,  adapting  them  to  the 
function  of  cropping  tough  vegetable  food,  such  as  the  Cla- 
thraria,  and  similar  plants,  which  are  found  buried  with  the 
Iguanodon,  might  have  afforded.  We  know  the  form  and 
power  of  iron  pincers  to  gripe  and  tear  nails  from  their 
lodgment  in  wood  :  a  still  more  powerful  kind  of  pincers,  or 
nippers,  is  constructed  for  the  purpose  of  cutting  wire,  which 
yields  to  them  nearly  as  readily  as  thread  to  a  pair  of  scis- 
sors. Our  figures  (PI.  24,  Figs.  6,  7,  8,  12)  show  the  place 
of  the  cutting  edges,  and  form  of  curviture,  and  points  of 
enlargement  and  contraction,  in  the  teeth  of  the  Iguanodon, 
to  be  nearly  the  same  as  in  the  corresponding  parts  of  these 
powerful  metallic  tools ;  and  the  mechanical  advantages  of 
such  teeth,  as  instruments  for  tearing  and  cutting,  must  have 
been  similar.* 

The  teeth  exhibit  also  two  kinds  of  provisions  to  maintain 
sharp  edges  along  the  cutting  surface,  from  their  first  pro- 
trusion, until  they  were  worn  down  to  the  very  stump.  The 
first  of  these  is  a  sharp  and  serrated  edge,  extending  on  each 
side  downwards,  from  the  point  to  the  broadest  portion  of 
the  body  of  the  tooth.     (See  Figs.  1,  2,  6,  8,  12,  &c.) 

The  second  provision  is  one  of  compensation  for  the  gra- 
dual destruction  of  this  serrated  edge,  by  substituting  a  plate 
of  thin  enamel,  to  maintain  a  cutting  power  in  the  anterior 
portion  of  the  tooth,  until  its  entire  substance  was  consumed 
in  service.f 

*  Fig.  2.  represents  t!ie  front  of  a  yoiintj  toofli;  and  Figs.  5,  6,  7,  8  the  front 
of  four  other  teeth,  tiirown  slightly  into  profile.  In  all  of  these  we  recog- 
nise a  near  approach  to  the  form  of  the  nipping  pincers,  with  a  sharp  cut- 
ting edge  at  the  u])per  margin  of  the  enamel.  The  enamel  is  here  expressed 
by  wavy  lines,  which  represent  its  actual  structure:  it  is  jjlaced  only  in  front, 
like  the  enamel  in  front  of  the  incisors  of  Rodentia. 

f  This  perpetual  e^\ge  resulted  from  the  enamel  being  placed  only  on 
the  front  of  the  tooth,  like  that  on  the  incisors  of  Uoflentia.  As  the  softer 
material  of  the  tooth  itself  must  have  worn  away  more  readily  than  this 
enamel,  and  most  readily  at  the  part  remotest  from  it,  an  oblique  sectioji 


190  GIGANTIC  TERRESTRIAL  SAURIANS. 

Whilst  the  crown  of  the  tooth  was  thus  gradually  dimi- 
nishing above,  a  simultaneous  absorption  of  the  root  M'ent 
on  below,  caused  by  the  pressure  of  a  new  tooth  rising  to 
replace  the  old  one,  until  by  this  continual  consumption  at 
both  extremities,  the  middle  portion  of  the  older  tooth  was 
reduced  to  a  hollow  stump,  (Figs,  10,  11,)  which  fell  from 
the  jaw  to  make  room  for  a  more  efficient  successor.*  In 
this  last  stage  the  form  of  the  tooth  had  entirely  changed, 
and  the  crown  had  become  flat,  like  the  crown  of  worn  out 
human  incisors,  and  capable  of  performing  imperfect  masti- 
cation after  the  cutting  powers  had  diminished.  There  is,  I 
believe,  no  other  example  of  teeth  which  possess  the  same 
mechanical  advantages  as  instruments  of  cutting  and  tear- 
ing portions  of  vegetable  matter  from  tough  and  rigid  plants. 

of  the  crown  was  thus  perpetually  maintained  with  a  sharp  cutting  edge  in 
front,  like  that  of  the  nippers.     (See  Figs.  7.  8.  12.) 

The  younger  tootli,  (Fig.  1,)  when  first  protruded,  was  lancet-shaped, 
with  a  serrated  edge,  extending  on  each  side  downwards,  from  the.  point  to 
its  broadest  portion,  as  in  the  living  Iguana.  (Pi.  24./  13,  and  Fig.  4  )  This 
serrature  ceased  at  the  broadest  diameter  of  the  tootii,  i.  e.  precisely  at  the 
line,  below  which,  had  they  been  continued,  they  would  have  had  no  effect 
in  cutting.  (Pi.  24.  /  2.  6.  8.  9.  12.)  As  these  saws  were  gradually  worn 
away,  the  cutting  power  was  transferred  to  the  enamel  in  front,  and  here  we 
find  a  provision  of  another  kind  to  give  efficacy  and  strength.  The  front 
was  traversed  longitudinally  by  alternate  ridges  and  furrows,  (PI.  24,  Figs. 
2,  5,  6,  7,  8,)  the  ridges  serving  as  ribs  or  buttresses  to  strengthen  and  pre- 
vent the  enamel  from  scaling  off,  and  forming,  together  with  the  furrows, 
an  edge  slightly  wavy,  and  disposed  in  a  series  of  minute  gouges,  or  fluted 
chisels;  hence  the  tooth  became  an  instrument  of  greater  power  to  cut  tough 
vegetables  under  the  action  of  the  jaw,  than  if  the  enamel  had  been  in  a  con- 
tinuous straight  line.  By  these  contrivances,  also  it  continued  effective 
during  every  stage  through  which  it  passed,  from  the  serrated  lancet-point  of 
the  new  toolh,  (Fig.  1,)  to  its  final  consumption.     (Figs.  10,  11.) 

*  In  PI.  24,  Fig.  13,  the  jaw  of  a  recent  Iguana  exhibits  the  commence- 
ment of  this  process,  and  a  number  of  young  teeth  are  seen  farcing  their 
way  upwards,  and  causing  absorption  at  the  base  of  the  older  teeth.  Figs 
10,  11,  exhibit  the  effect  of  similar  absorption  upon  the  residuary  stump  of 
the  fossil  tooth  of  an  Iguanodon. 


IGTJANODON.  191 

In  this  curious  pieCe  of  animal  mechanism,  we  find  a  varied 
adjustment  of  all  parts  and  proportions  of  the  tooth,  to  the 
exercise  of  peculiar  functions ;  attended  by  compensations 
adapted  to  shifting  conditions  of  the  instrument,  during  dif- 
ferent stages  of  its  consumption.  And  we  must  estimate 
the  works  of  nature  by  a  different  standard  from  that  which 
we  apply  to  the  productions  of  human  art,  if  we  can  view 
such  examples  of  mechanical  contrivance,  united  with  so 
much  economy  of  expenditure,  and  with  such  anticipated 
adaptations  to  varying  conditions  in  their  application,  with- 
out feeling  a  profound  conviction  that  all  this  adjustment 
has  resulted  from  design  and  high  intelligence. 


SECTION  XI. 

AMPHIBIOUS    SAURIANS    ALLIED    TO    CROCODILESi 

The  fossil  reptiles  of  the  Crocodilean  family  do  not  de- 
viate sufficiently  from  living  genera,  to  require  any  descrip- 
tion of  peculiar  and  discontinued  contrivances,  like  those  we 
have  seen  in  the  Ichthyosaurus,  Plesiosaurus,  and  Pterodac- 
tyle ;  but  their  occurrence  in  a  fossil  state  is  of  high  import- 
ance, as  it  shows  that  whilst  many  forms  of  vertebrated 
animals  have  one  after  another  been  created,  and  become 
extinct,  during  the  successive  geological  changes  of  the 
surface  of  our  globe ;  there  are  others  which  have  survived 
all  these  changes  and  revolutions,  and  still  retain  the  leading 
features  under  which  they  first  appeared  upon  our  planet. 

If  we  look  to  the  state  of  the  earth,  and  the  character  of 
its  population,  at  the  time  when  Crocodilean  forms  were 
first  added  to  the  number  of  its  inhabitants,  we  find  that  the 
highest  class  of  living  beings  were  reptiles,  and  that  the  only 
other  vertebrated  animals  which  then  existed  were  fishes ; 
the  carnivorous  reptiles  at  this  early  period  must  therefore 


192  AMPHIBIOUS    SAURIANS. 

have  fed  chiefly  upon  them,  and  if  in  the  existing  family  of 
Crocodiles  there  be  any,  that  are  in  a  pecuHar  degree  pis- 
civorous, their  form  is  that  we  should  expect  to  find  in  those 
most  ancient  fossil  genera,  whose  chief  supply  of  food  must 
have  been  derived  from  fishes. 

In  the  living  sub-genera  of  the  Crocodilean  family,  we 
see  the  elongated  and  slender  beak  of  the  Gavial  of  the 
Ganges,  constructed  to  feed  on  fishes ;  whilst  the  shorter 
and  stronger  snout  of  the  broad-nosed  Crocodiles  and  Alli- 
gators gives  them  the  power  of  seizing  and  devouring  quad- 
rupeds, that  come  to  the  banks  of  rivers  in  hot  countries  to 
drink.  As  there  were  scarcely  any  mammalia*  during  the 
secondary  periods,  whilst  the  waters  were  abundantly  stored 
with  fishes,  we  might  h  priori,  expect  that  if  any  Croco- 
dilean forms  had  then  existed  they  would  most  nearly  have 
resembled  the  modern  Gavial.  And  we  have  hitherto  found 
only  those  genera  which  have  elongated  beaks,  in  formations 
anterior  to,  and  including  the  chalk  ;  whilst  true  Crocodiles, 
with  a  short  and  broad  snout,  like  that  of  the  Cayman  and 
the  Alligator,  appear  for  the  first  time  in  strata  of  the  ter- 
tiary periods,  in  which  the  remains  of  mammalia  abound.f 

During  these  grand  periods  of  lacustrine  mammalia,  in 
which  but  few  of  the  present  genera  of  terrestrial  carnivora 

*  The  small  Opossums  in  the  oolite  formation  at  Stonesfield,  near  Oxford, 
are  the  only  land  mammalia  whose  bones  have  been  yet  discovered  in  any 
strata  more  ancient  than  the  tertiary. 

t  One  of  these,  found  by  Mr,  Spencer  in  the  London  clay  of  (he  Isle 
of  Sheppy,  is  engraved,  PI.  25',  Fig.  1.  Crocodiles  of  this  kind  have 
been  found  in  the  chalk  of  Meudon,  in  the  plastic  clay  of  Auteuil,  in  the 
London  clay,  in  the  gypsum  of  Mont  Martre,  and  in  the  lignites  of  Pro- 
vence. 

The  modern  broad-nosed  Crocodileans,  though  they  have  the  power  to 
capture  mammalia,  are  not  limited  to  this  kind  of  prey  ;  they  feed  largely 
also  on  fishes,  and  occasionally  on  birds.  This  omnivorous  ci)aractcr  of 
the  existing  Crocodilean  family,  seems  adapted  to  the  present  general 
diffusion  of  more  varied  kinds  of  food,  than  existed  when  the  only  form  of 
the  beak  ia  this  family  was  fitted,  like  that  of  the  Gavial,  to  feed  cliiefly  on 
Fishes. 


CROCODILEANS.  103 

had  been  called  into  existence,  the  important  ofRce  of  con- 
trolling the  excessive  increase  of  the  aquatic  herbivora  ap- 
pears to  have  been  consigned  to  the  Crocodiles,  whose 
habits  fitted  them,  in  a  peculiar  degree,  for  such  a  service. 
Thus,  the  past  history  of  the  Crocodilean  tribe  presents 
another  example  of  the  well  regulated  workings  of  a  con- 
sistent plan  in  the  economy  of  animated  nature,  under  which 
each  individual,  whilst  following  its  own  instinct,  and  pur- 
suing its  own  good,  is  instrumental  in  promoting  the  general 
welfare  of  the  whole  family  of  its  contemporaries. 

Cuvier  observes,  that  the  presence  of  Crocodilean  reptiles, 
which  are  usually  inhabitants  of  fresh-water,  in  various  beds, 
loaded  with  the  remains  of  other  reptiles  and  shells  that  are 
decidedly  marine,  and  the  farther  fact  of  their  being,  in  many 
cases,  accompanied  by  fresh-water  Tortoises,  shows  that  there 
must  have  existed  dry  land,  watered  by  rivers,  in  the  early 
periods  when  these  strata  were  deposited,  and  long  before 
the  formation  of  the  lacustrine  tertiary  strata  of  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Paris.*  The  living  species  of  the  Crocodile 
family  are  twelve  in  number,  namely,  one  Giaval,  eight 
true  Crocodiles,  and  three  Alligators.  There  are  also  many 
fossil  species:  no  less  than  six  of  these  have  been  made  out 
by  Cuvier,  and  several  others,  from  the  secondary  and  ter- 
tiary formations  in  England  remain  to  be  described.! 

*  M.  Gcoffroy  St.  Hilairc  has  arranp^ed  the  fossil  Saurians  with  long  and 
narrow  beaks,  like  that  of  the  Gavial,  under  the  two  new  g-cnera,  Teleosau- 
rus  and  Steneosaurus.  In  the  Teleosaurus,  (PI.  25',  Fig.  2.)  the  nostrils 
form  almost  a  vertical  section  of  the  anterior  extremity  of  the  beak  ;  in  the 
Steneosaurus,  (PI.  25',  Fig  3.)  this  anterior  termination  of  the  nasal  canal 
had  nearly  the  same  arrangement  as  in  the  Gavial,  opening  upwards,  and 
being  almost  semicircular  on  each  side. — Rccherches  sur  les  grands  Saufi- 
ens,  1831. 

t  One  of  the  finest  specimens  of  fossil  Tclcosauri  yet  discovered,  (see 
PI.  25,  Fig.  1,)  was  found  in  the  year  1824,  in  the  alum  shale  of  the  lias 
formation  at  Sajtwick,  near  Whitby,  and  is  engraved  in  Young  and  Bird's 
Geological  Survey  of  the  Yorkshire  Coast,  2d  Ed.  1828:  its  entire  length 
is  about  eighteen  feet,  the  breadth  of  the  head  twelve  inches,  the  snout 
VOL.  I. — 17 


194  AMPHIBIOUS  SAURIANS. 

It  would  be  foreign  to  our  j)rcscnt  purpose,  to  enter  intc 
U  niiiiuU^  comparison  of  ihe  usleuiogy  of  living  and  fossiJ 
genera  and  speeies  of  this  family.  We  may  simj)ly  observe, 
u'ith  respect  !<»  their  similar  manner  of  dentition,  that  they 
all  present  the  same  exami)les  of  provision  for  extraordinary 
expenditure  of  teeth,  by  an  unusually  abundant  store  of 
these  most  essential  organs.*  As  Crocodiles  increase  to  no 
less  Ihan  four  hundred  limes  their  original  bulk,  between 
the  period  at  which  they  leave  the  egg  and  their  full  matu- 
rity, they  are  ]»ruvided  with  a  more  fre(iuent  succession  oi 
teeth  than  the  mammalia,  in  order  to  maintain  a  duly  pro- 
portioned supply  during  every  period  of  their  life.  As  the 
predaceous  habits  ol"  these  animals  cause  their  teeth,  placed 
in  so  long  a  jaw,  to  be  peculiarly  liable  to  destruction,  the 
same  provision  serves  also  to  renew  the  losses  which  must 
often  be  occasioned  by  accidental  fracture. 

The  existence  of  these  remedial  ibrces,  thus  uniformly 
adapted  to  supply  anticipated  wants,  and  to  repair  foreseen 
injuries,  affords  an  example  of  those  supplementary  con- 
trivances, which  give  double  strength  to  the  argument  from 
design,  in  proof  of  the  agency  of  Intelligence,  in  the  con- 
struction and  renovation  of  the  animal  machinery  in  which 
such  contrivances  arc  introduced. 

The  discovery  of  Crocodilean  forms  so  nearly  allied  to 

was  lonij  and  slender,  as  in  the  Gavial,  tlio  teeth,  one  liundrcd  and  forty  in 
number,  are  all  small  and  slender,  and  |)lnccd  in  nearly  a  Ktraij^lit  line.  'I'lic 
heads  of  two  other  individuals  of  the  same  specieci,  found  near  Whitby,  are 
represented  in  the  same  plate.  Figs.  2,  3. 

Some  of  tho  ungual  phalanges,  which  arc  preserved  on  the  hind  feet  of 
this  animal,  Fig.  1,  show  that  these  extremities  were  terminated  by  long  and 
sharp  claws,  adapted  for  motion  upon  land,  from  which  wc  may  infer  that 
the  animal  was  not  exclusively  marine;  from  tiie  nature  of  the  shells  with 
which  they  arc  associated,  in  the  lias  and  oolite  formations,  it  is  probable  that 
both  the  Steneosaurus  and  Teleosaurus  irccpienti'd  shallow  seas.  Mr. 
LycU  states  that  the  larger  Alligator  of  the  Ganges,  sometimes  descends  be- 
y.ond  the  brackish  water  of  the  delta  into  the  sea. 

•  Tiiis  mode  of  dentition  has  been  already  exemplified  in  speaking  of  the 
^Icntition  of  the  Iclilhyosaurus,  P.  13G,  and  PI.  11.  A. 


FOSSIL  TESTUDINATA.  195 

the  living  Gavial,  in  the  same  early  strata  that  contain  the 
first  traces  of  the  Ichthyosaurus  and  the  Plesiosaurus,  is  a 
fact  which  seems  wholly  at  variance  with  every  theory  that 
would  derive  the  race  of  Crocodiles  from  Ichthyosauri  and 
Plesiosauri,  by  any  process  of  gradual  transmutation  or  de- 
velopement.  The  first  appearance  of  all  these  three  fami- 
lies of  reptiles  seems  to  have  been  nearly  simultaneous ;  and 
they  all  continued  to  exist  together  until  the  termination  of 
the  secondary  formations ;  when  the  Ichthyosauri  and  Ple^ 
siosauri,  became  extinct,  and  forms  of  Crocodiles,  approach- 
ing to  the  Cayman  and  the  Alligator,  were  for  the  first  time 
introduced. 


SECTION  XII. 

FOSSIL     TORTOISES,    OR    TESTUDINATA. 

Among  the  existing  animal  population  of  the  warmer 
regions  of  the  earth,  there  is  an  extensive  order  of  reptiles, 
comprehended  by  Cuvier  under  the  name  of  Chelonians,  or 
Tortoises.  These  are  subdivided  into  four  distinct  families; 
one  inhabiting  salt  water,  two  others  fresh-water  lakes  and 
rivers,  and  a  fourth  living  entirely  upon  the  land.  One  of 
the  most  striking  characters  of  this  Order  consists  in  the 
provision  that  is  made  for  the  defence  of  creatures,  Avhose 
movements  are  usually  slow  and  torpid,  by  enclosing  the 
body  within  a  double  shield  or  cuirass,  formed  by  the  ex- 
pansion of  the  vertebra),  ribs  and  sternum,  into  a  broad 
bony  case. 

The  small  European  Tortoise,  Testudo  Graeca,  and  the 
eatable  Turtle,  Chelonia  Mydas,  are  familiar  examples  of 
this  pecuUar  arrangement  both  in  terrestrial  and  aquatic 
reptiles ;  in  each  case  the  shield  affords  compensation  for 
the  want  of  rapidity   of  motion  to  animals  that   have  no 


196  FOSSIL  TESTUDINATA. 

ready  means  of  escape  by  flight  or  concealment  from 
their  enemies.  We  learn  from  Geology  that  this  Order  be- 
gan to  exist  nearly  at  the  same  time  with  the  Order  of  Sau- 
rians,  and  has  continued  co-extensively  with  them  through 
the  secondary  and  tertiary  formations,  unto  the  present  time: 
their  fossil  remains  present  also  the  same  threefold  divisions 
that  exist  among  modern  Testudinata,  into  groups  re- 
spectively adapted  to  live  in  salt  and  fresh-water,  and  upon 
the  land. 

Animals  of  this  Order  have  yet  been  found  only  in  strata 
more  recent  than  the  carboniferous  series.*  The  earliest 
example  recorded  by  Cuvier,  (Oss.  Foss.  Vol.  5,  Pt.  2,  p. 
525,)  is  that  of  a  very  large  species  of  Sea  Turtle,  the  shell 
of  which  was  eight  feet  long,  occurring  in  the  Muschelkalk 
at  Luneville.  Another  Marine  species  has  been  found  at 
Glaris,  in  slate  referable  to  the  lower  cretaceous  formation. 
A  third  occurs  in  the  upper  cretaceous  freestone  at  Maes- 
tricht.  All  these  are  associated  with  the  remains  of  other 
animals  that  are  marine  ;  and  though  they  differ  both  from 
living  Turtles  and  from  one  another,  they  still  exhibit  such 
general  accordance  in  the  principles  of  their  construction, 
with  the  conditions  by  which  existing  Turtles  are  fitted  for 
their  marine  abode,  that  Cuvier  was  at  once  enabled  to  pro- 
nounce these  fossil  species  to  have  been  indubitably  inha- 
bitants of  the  sea.f 

*  The  fragment  from  the  Caithness  slate,  engraved  in  the  Gaol.  Trans. 
Lond.  V.  iii.  PI.  16,  Fig.  6,  as  portions  of  a  trionyx,  is  pronounced  by  M. 
Agassiz  to  be  part  of  a  fisli. 

t  Plate  25',  Fig,  4,  represents  a  Turtle  from  tlie  slate  of  Glaris :  it  is 
shown  to  have  been  marine  by  tlie  unequal  elongation  of  the  toes  in  the 
anterior  paddle;  because,  in  fresh-water  Tortoises,  all  tlie  toes  are  nearly 
equal,  and  of  moderate  length ;  and  in  land  Tortoises,  they  are  also 
nearly  equal,  and  short ;  but  in  all  marine  species  they  are  very  long, 
and  the  central  toe  of  the  anterior  paddle,  is  by  much  the  longest  of  all. 
The  accordance  with  this  latter  condition  in  the  specimen  before  us,  is 
at  once  apparent ;  and  both  in  tiiis  respect  and  general  structure,  it  ap- 
proaches  very  nearly  to  living  genera.     This  figure  is  copied    from  VoK 


TRIONYX  EMYS.  197 

The  genera  Trionyx  and  Emys,  present  their  fossil 
species  in  the  Wealden  fresh-water  formations  of  the  Se- 
condary series ;  and  still  more  abundantly  in  the  Tertiary 
lacustrine  deposites ;  all  these  appear  to  have  lived  and 
died  under  circumstances  analogous  to  those  which  attend 
their  cognate  species  in  the  lakes  and  rivers  of  the  present 
tropics.  They  have  also  been  found  in  marine  deposites, 
where  their  admixture  with  the  remains  of  Crocodilean 
animals  shows  that  they  were  probably  drifted,  together 
with  them,  into  the  sea,  from  land,  at  no  great  distance.* 

In  the  close  approximation  of  the  generic  characters  of 
these  fossil  Testudinata,  of  various  and  ancient  geological 
epochs,  to  those  of  the  present  day,  we  have  a  striking  ex- 
ample of  the  unity  of  design  which  has  pervaded  the  con- 
struction of  animals,  from  the  most  distant  periods  in  which 
these  forms  of  organized  beings  were  also  called  into  ex- 
istence. As  the  paddle  of  the  Turtle  has  at  all  times  been 
adapted  to  move  in  the  waves  of  the  sea,  so  have  the  feet 
of  the  Trionyx  and  Emys  ever  been  constructed  for  a  more 
quiescent  life  in  fresh-water,  whilst  those  of  the  Tortoise 
have  been  no  less  uniformly  fitted  to  creep  and  burrow  upon 
land. 

5,  Pt.  2,  Tab.  14,  /,  4,  of  the  Oss.  Foss.  ofCavier.  M.  Agassiz  has  favoured 
iiie  with  the  following  details  respecting  important  parts  which  are  imper- 
fectly represented  in  the  drawing  from  which  Cuvicr's  engraving  was  taken. 
"  The  ribs  show  evidently  that  it  is  nearly  connected  with  the  genera  Che- 
Ionia  and  Sphargis,  bat  referable  to  no  known  species  ;  the  fingers  of  the 
left  fore  paddle  are  five  in  number;  the  two  exterior  are  the  shortest,  and  have 
each  three  articulations;  and  the  ihree  internal  fingers,  of  which  the  middle 
one  is  the  longest,  have  each  four  articulations,  as  in  the  existing  genera, 
Chclonia  and  Sphargis." 

*  Thus  two  large  extinct  species  of  EmyK  occur,  together  with  marine 
shells,  in  the  jura  limestone  at  Soleure.  The  Emys  also  and  Crocodiles,  are 
found  in  the  marine  deposites  of  the  London  clay  at  Shoppy  and  Harwich; 
and  the  former  is  associated  with  marine  exuvix  at  Brussels.  Very  per, 
fret  impressions  of  small  horny  scales  of  Testudinata,  occur  in  the  Oolite 
slate  of  Stonesfield,  near  O.vford. 

17* 


198        .  LAND  TORTOISES- 

The  remains  of  land  Tortoises  have  been  more  rarely  ob- 
served in  a  fossil  state.  Cuvier  mentions  bat  tvv^o  example  s, 
and  these  in  very  recent  formations  at  Aix,  and  in  the  Isle  of 
France. 

Scotland  has  recently  afforded  evidence  of  the  existence 
of  more  than  one  species  of  these  terrestrial  reptiles,  during 
the  period  of  the  New  red,  or  Variegated  sandstone  forma- 
tion. (See  PI.  1,  Sec.  17.)  The  nature  of  this  evidence  is 
almost  unique  in  the  history  of  organic  remains.* 

It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  on  the  surface  of  sandstone, 
tracks  which  mark  the  passage  of  small  Crustacea  and 
other  marine  animals,  whilst  this  stone  was  in  a  state  of 
loose  sand  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  Laminated  sandstones 
are  also  often  disposed  in  minute  undulations,  resembling 
those  formed  by  the  ripple  of  agitated  water  upon  sand.f 

*  See  Dr.  Duncan's  account  of  tracks  and  footmarks  of  animals  im- 
pressed on  sandstone  in  th3  quarry  of  Corn  Cockle  Muir,  Dumfries-shire 
Trans.  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh,  1828. 

Dr.  Duncan  .states  tliat  the  strata  which  bear  these  impressions  lie  on  each 
other  like  volumes  on  the  shelf  of  a  library,  when  all  inclining  to  one  side: 
that  the  quarry  has  been  worked  to  the  depth  of  forty-fivo  feet  from  the  top 
of  the  rock;  llirougliout  the  whole  of  this  dcptli  similar  impressions  have  been 
found,  not  on  a  single  stratum  only,  but  on  many  successive  strata;  i.  c.  af- 
ter removing  a  large  slab  Vvhich  contained  foot-prints,  they  found  perhaps 
the  very  next  stratum  at  the  distance  of  a  few  feet,  or  it  might  be  less  than 
an  inch,  exhibiting  a  similar  plienomenon^  Hence  it  follows  that  tlie  pro- 
cess by  which  the  impressions  were  made  on  the  sand,  and  subsequently 
buried,  was  repeated  at  successive  intervals. 

I  learn,  by  a  letter  from  Dr.  Duncan,  dated  October,  1834,  tliat  similar 
impressions,  attended  by  nearly  the  same  circumstances,  have  recently  been 
discovered  aboutten  miles  south  of  Corn  Cockle  Muir,  in  the  Red  sandstone 
quarries  of  Craigs,  two  miles  east  of  the  town  of  Dumfries.  The  inclination 
of  the  strata  of  ihis  place  is  about  45°  S.  W.  like  that  of  almost  all  tlie  sand- 
stone strata  of  the  neighbourhood.  One  of  these  tracks  extended  from  twenty 
to  thirty  feet  in  length:  in  this  place  also,  as  at  Corn  Cockle  Muir,  no  bones 
of  any  kind  have  yet  been  discovered. 

Sir  William  Jardine  has  informed  Dr.  Duncan  that  tracks  of  animals  have 
been  found  also  in  other  quarries  near  Corn  Cockle  Muir. 

t  In    1831,  Mr.  G.  P.  Scrope,  after  visiting   the  quarries  of  Dumfries. 


FOSSIL    FOOTSTEPS.  199 

The  same  causes,  which  have  so  commonly  preserved 
these  undulations,  would  equally  preserve  any  impressions 
that  might  happen  to  have  been  made  on  beds  of  sand,  by 
the  feet  of  animals ;  the  only  essential  condition  of  such  pre- 
servation being,  that  they  should  have  become  covered  with 
a  farther  deposite  of  earthy  matter,  before  they  were  obli- 
terated by  any  succeeding  agitations  of  the  water. 

The  nature  of  the  impressions  in  Dumfries-shire  may  be 
seen  by  reference  to  PI.  26.  They  traverse  the  rock  in  a 
direction  either  up  or  down,  and  not  across  the  surfaces  of 
the  strata,  which  arc  now  inclined  at  an  angle  of  38°.  On 
one  slab  there  are  twenty-four  continuous  impressions  of 
feet,  forming  a  regular  track,  with  six  distinct  repetitions 
of  the  mark  of  each  foot,  the  fore-foot  being  differently 
shaped  from  the  hind-foot;  the  marks  of  claws  are  also  very 
distinct.* 

found  rippled  markings,  and  abundant  foot  tracks  of  small  animals  on  the 
Forest  marble  beds  north  of  Halii.  These  were  probably  tracks  of  Crusta- 
cea.—See  Phil.  Mag.  May,  1831,  p.  376. 

We  find  on  tiie  surface  of  slabs  both  of  the  calcareous  grit,  and  Stonesfield 
slate,  near  Oxford,  and  on  sandstones  of  the  Wealden  formation,  in  Sussex 
and  Dorsetshire,  perfectly  preserved  and  petrified  castings  of  marine  worms, 
at  the  upper  extremity  of  holes  bored  by  them  in  the  sand,  while  it  waa 
yet  soft  at  the  bottom  of  the  water;  and  within  the  sandstones,  traces  of 
tubular  holes  in  which  the  worms  resided.  The  p^e^^ervation  of  these  tubes 
and  castings  shows  the  very  quiet  condition  of  the  bottom,  and  the  gentle 
action  of  the  water,  which  brought  the  materials  that  covered  them  over, 
without  disturbing  them. 

Cases  of  this  kind  add  to  the  probability  of  the  preservation  of  footsteps  of 
Tortoises  on  the  Red  sandstone,  and  also  afford  proof  of  the  alternation  of 
intervals  of  repose  with  periods  of  violence,  during  the  destructive  processes 
by  which  derivative  strata  were  formed. 

*  On  comparing  some  of  these  impressions  with  tiie  tracks  which  I 
caused  to  be  made  on  soft  sand,  and  clay,  and  upon  unbaked  pie-crust,  by  a 
living  Emys  and  Testudo  Grjecn,  I  found  the  correspondence  with  the  latter 
sufficiently  close,  allowing  for  difference  of  species,  to  render  it  highly  pro- 
bable that  the  fossil  footsteps  were  also  impressed  by  the  feet  of  land 
Tortoises. 

In  the  bed  of  the  Sapey   and    Whelpley  brooks  near  Tcnbury,  circulai 


200  FOSSIL    FOOTSTEPS 

Although  these  footsteps  are  thus  abundant  in  the  exten- 
sive quarries  of  Corn  Cockle  Muir,  no  trace  whatever  has 
been  found  of  any  portion  of  the  bones  of  the  animals  whose 
feet  they  represent.  This  circumstance  may  perhaps  be  ex- 
plained by  the  nature  of  the  siliceous  sandstone  having  been 
unfavourable  to  the  preservation  of  organic  remains.  The 
conditions  which  would  admit  of  the  entire  obliteration  of 
bones,  would  in  no  way  interfere  with  the  preservation  of 
impressions  made  by  feet,  and  speedily  filled  up  by  a  suc- 
ceeding deposite  of  sand,  which  would  assume,  with  the  fide- 
lity of  an  artificial  plaster  mould,  the  precise  form  of  the 
surface  to  which  it  was  applied. 

Notwithstanding  this  absence  of  bones  from  the  rocks 
which  are  thus  abundantly  impressed  with  footsteps,  the  lat- 
ter alone  suffice  to  assure  us  both  of  the  existence  and  cha- 
racter of  the  animals  by  which  they  were  made.  Their 
form  is  much  too  short  for  the  feet  of  Crocodiles,  or  any  other 
known  Saurians ;  and  it  is  to  the  Testudinata,  or  Tortoises, 
that  we  look,  with  most  probability  of  finding  the  species  to 
which  their  origin  is  due.* 

markings  occur  in  tiic  Old  Red  Sandstone,  which  are  referred  by  the  na- 
lives  to  the  tracks  of  Horses,  and  the  impressions  of  Patten-rings,  and  a 
legendary  tale  has  been  applied  to  explain  their  history.  They  are  caused 
by  concretions  of  Marlstone  and  Iron,  disposed  in  spherical  cases  around  a 
solid  core  of  sandstone,  and  intersected  by  these  water  causes. 

*  This  evidence  of  footsteps  on  which  we  are  here  arguing,  is  one  which 
all  mankind  appeal  to  in  every  condition  of  society.  The  thief  is  identified 
by  the  impression  which  his  shoe  has  left  near  the  scene  of  his  depredations- 
Captain  Parry  found  the  tracks  of  human  feet  upon  the  banks  of  the  stream 
in  Possession  Bay,  which  appeared  so  fresh,  that  he  at  first  imagined  them 
to  have  been  recently  made  by  some  natives :  on  examination  they  were 
distinctly  ascertained  to  be  the  marks  of  the  shoes  of  some  of  his  own  crew, 
eleven  months  before.  The  frozen  condition  of  the  soil  had  prevented  their 
obliteration.  The  American  savage  not  only  identifies  the  Elk  and  Bison 
by  the  impression  of  their  hoofs,  but  ascertains  also  the  time  that  has 
elapsed  since  each  animal  had  passed.  From  the  Camel's  track  upon  the 
sand,  the  Arab  can  determine  whether  it  was  heavily  or  lightly  laden,  or 
whether  it  was  lame. 


FOSSIL  FOOTSTEPS.  201 

The  Historian  or  the  Antiquary  may  have  traversed  the 
fields  of  ancient  or  of  modern  battles ;  and  may  have  pur- 
sued the  line  of  march  of  triumphant  Conquerors,  whose  ar- 
mies trampled  down  the  most  mighty  kingdoms  of  the  world. 
The  winds  and  storms  have  utterly  obliterated  the  epheme- 
ral impressions  of  their  course.  Not  a  track  remains  of  a  sin- 
gle foot,  or  a  single  hoof,  of  all  the  countless  millions  of  men 
and  beasts  whose  progress  spread  desolation  over  the  earth. 
But  the  Reptiles,  that  crawled  upon  the  half-finished  surface 
of  our  infant  planet,  have  left  memorials  of  their  passage, 
enduring  and  indelible.  No  history  has  recorded  their  crea- 
tion or  destruction;  their  very  bones  are  found  no  more 
amonrr  the  fossil  relics  of  a  former  world.  Centuries,  and 
thousands  of  years,  may  have  rolled  away,  between  the  time 
in  which  these  footsteps  were  impressed  by  Tortoises  upon 
the  sands  of  their  native  Scotland,  and  the  hour  when  they 
are  again  laid  bare,  and  exposed  to  our  curious  and  ad- 
miring eyes.  Yet  we  behold  them,  stamped  upon  the  rock, 
distinct  as  the  track  of  the  passing  animal  upon  the  recent 
snow ;  as  if  to  show  that  thousands  of  years  are  but  as  no- 
thing amidst  Eternity — and,  as  it  were,  in  mockery  of  the 
fleeting  perishable  course  of  the  mightiest  potentates  among 
mankind.* 

*  A  similar  discovery  of  fossil  footsteps  has  recently  been  made  in  Saxony, 
at  the  village  of  Hessberg,  near  Hildburghausen,  in  several  quarries  of  gray 
quartzose  sandstone,  alternating  with  beds  of  red  sandstone,  nearly  of  the 
same  age  with  that  of  Dumfries.     (See  PI.  26'.  26".  26'".) 

The  following  account  of  them  is  collected  from  notices  by  Dr.  Hohnbaum 
and  Professor  Kaup.  "  The  impressions  of  feet  are  partly  hollow,  and  partly 
in  relief;  all  the  depressions  are  upon  the  upper  surfaces  of  slabs  of  sand- 
stone, whilst  the  reliefs  are  only  upon  the  lower  surfaces,  covering  those 
which  bear  the  depressions.  These  reliefs  are  natural  casts,  formed  in  the 
subjacent  footsteps  as  in  moulds.  On  one  slab  (see  PI.  26',)  six  feet  long  by 
five  feet  wide,  there  occur  many  footsteps  of  more  than  one  animal,  and  of 
various  sizes.  The  larger  impressions,  which  seem  to  be  of  the  hind-foot 
are  eight  inches  long,  and  five  wide.  (See  PI.  26".)  One  was  twelve  inches 
long.  Near  to  each  large  footstep,  and  at  the  regular  distance  of  an  inch 
and  a  half  before  it,  is  a   smaller  print  of  a  forefoot,  four  inches  long  and 


202  FOSSIL  FISHES. 


SECTION  XIII. 


FOSSIL    FISHES. 


The  history  of  Fossil  Fishes  is  the  Branch  of  Palaso- 
logy  which  has  hitherto  received  least  attention,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  imperfect  state  of  our  knowledge  of  existing 


three  inches  wide.  These  footsteps  follow  one  another  in  pairs,  at  intervals 
of  fourteen  inches  from  pair  to  pair,  each  pair  being  in  the  same  line.  Both 
large  and  small  steps  have  the  great  toes  alternately  on  the  right  and  left 
side ;  each  has  the  print  of  five  toes,  and  the  first,  or  great  toe  is  bent  in- 
wards like  a  thumb.  The  fore  and  hind-foot  are  nearly  similar  in  form, 
though  they  differ  so  greatly  in  size. 

On  the  same  slabs  are  other  tracks,  of  smaller  and  differently  shaped  feet, 
armed  with  nails.  Many  of  these  (PI.  26')  resemble  the  impressions  ou  the 
sandstone  of  Dumfries,  and  arc  apparently  the  steps  of  Tortoises. 

Professor  Kaup  has  proposed  the  provisional  name  of  Chirothcriuin  for  the 
great  unknown  animal  that  formed  the  larger  footsteps,  from  the  distant 
resemblance,  both  of  the  fore  and  hind-feet,  to  the  impression  of  a  human 
hand;  and  he  conjectures  that  they  may  have  been  derived  from  some  quad- 
ruped allied  to  the  Marsupialia.  The  presence  of  two  small  fossil  mammalia 
related  to  the  Opossum,  in  the  Oolite  formation  of  Stonesficld,  and  the  ap- 
proximation of  this  order  to  the  class  of  Reptiles,  which  has  already  been 
alluded  to,  (page  64,  note,)  are  circumstances  which  give  probability  to  such 
a  conjecture.  In  the  Kangaroo,  the  first  toe  of  the  fore-foot  is  set  obliquely 
to  the  others,  like  a  thumb,  and  the  disproportion  between  the  fore  and  hind 
feet  is  also  very  great. 

A  fartlier  account  of  these  footsteps  has  been  published  by  Dr.  Sickler, 
in  a  letter  to  Blumenbach,  1834.  Our  figure,  (PI.  26',)  is  copied  from  a 
plate  that  accompanies  this  letter;  on  comparing  it  with  a  large  slab,  co- 
vered with  similar  footmarks,  from  the  same  quarries,  lately  placed  in  the 
British  Museum,  (1835)  I  find  that  the  representations,  both  of  the  large 
and  small  footsteps,  correspond  most  accurately.  The  hind-foot  (PI. 
26",)  is  drawn  from  one   on  this  slab.    PI.  26'"  is  drawn  from  a  plaster 


rOSSIL  FISHES.  203 

Fishes.  The  inaccessible  recesses  of  the  waters  they  in- 
habit, renders  the  study  of  their  nature  and  habits  much 
more  difficult  than  that  of  terrestrial  animals.  The  arrange- 
ment of  this  large  and  important  class  of  Vertebrata  was 
the  last  great  work  undertaken  by  Cuvier,  not  long  before 
his  lamented  death,  and  nearly  eight  thousand  species  of 
living  Fishes  had  come  under  his  observation.  The  full  de- 
velopement  of  their  history  and  numbers,  and  of  the  func- 
tions they  discharge  in  the  economy  of  nature,  he  has  left 
to  his  able  successors. 

The  fact  of  the  formation  of  so  large  a  portion  of  the 
surface  of  the  earth  beneath  the  water,  would  lead  us  to  ex- 
pect traces  of  the  former  existence  of  Fishes,  wherever  we 
have  the  remains  of  aquatic  MoUusca,  Articulata,  and  Ra- 
diata.  Although  a  few  remarkable  places  have  long  been 
celebrated  as  the  repositories  of  fossil  Fishes,  even  of  these 
there  are  some,  whose  geological  relations  have  scarcely 
yet  been  ascertained,  while  the  nature  of  their  Fishes  re- 
mains in  still  greater  obscurity.* 

cast  in  the  British  Museum,  taken  from  another  slab  found  in  the  same 
quarries,  and  impressed  with  footsteps  of  some  small  aquatic  Reptile. 

Some  fragments  of  bones  were  found  in  the  same  quarries  with  these  foot- 
steps, but  were  destroyed. 

A  thin  deposite  of  Green  Marl,  whieh  lay  upon  the  inferior  bed  of  sand, 
at  the  time  when  the  footsteps  were  impressed,  causes  the  slabs  above  and 
below  it  to  part  readily,  and  exhibit  the  casts  that  were  formed  by  the  upper 
sand,  in  the  prints  that  the  animals  had  made  on  the  lower  stratum,  through 
the  marl,  while  soft,  and  sufficiently  tenacious  to  retain  the  form  of  the  foot- 
steps. 

*  The  most  celebrated  deposites  of  fossil  Fishes  in  Europe  are  the  coal 
formation  of  Saarbriick,  in  Lorraine ;  the  bituminous  slate  of  Mansfcld,  in 
Thuringia ;  the  calcareous  lithographic  slate  of  Solenhofen  ;  the  compact 
blue  slate  of  Claris;  the  limestone  of  Monte  Bolca,  near  Verona  ;  the  marl- 
stone  of  Oeningen,  in  Switzerland;  and  of  Aix, in  Provence. 

Every  attempt  that  has  yet  been  made  at  a  systematic  arrangement  of 
these  Fishes  has  been  more  or  less  defective,  from  an  endeavour  to  ar- 
range them  under  existing  genera  and  families.  The  imperfection  of 
.his  own,   and  of  all   preceding   classifications  of  Fishes,  is   admitted  by 


204  SYSTEM  OF  AGASSIZ. 

The  task  of  arranging  all  this  disorder  has  at  length  been 
undertaken  by  an  individual,  to  whose  hands  Cuvier  at  once 
consigned  the  materials  he  had  himself  collected  for  this  im- 
portant work.  The  able  researches  of  Professor  Agassiz 
have  already  extended  the  number  of  fossil  Fishes  to  two 
hundred  genera,  and  more  than  eight  hundred  and  fifty  spe- 
cies.* The  results  of  this  inquiry  throw  a  new  and  most  im- 
portant light  on  the  state  of  the  earth,  during  each  of  the 
great  periods  into  which  its  past  history  has  been  divided. 
The  study  of  fossil  Ichthyology  is  therefore  of  peculiar  im- 
portance to  the  geologist,  as  it  enables  him  to  follow  an  en- 
tire Class  of  animals,  of  so  high  a  Division  as  the  verte- 
brate, through  the  whole  series  of  geological  formations; 
and  to  institute  comparisons  between  their  various  conditions 
during  successive  Periods  of  the  earth's  formation,  such  as 
Cuvier  could  carry  only  to  a  much  more  limited  extent  in 
the  classes  of  Reptiles,  Birds,  and  Mammifers,  for  want  of 
adequate  materials. 

The  system  upon  which  M.  Agassiz  has  established  his 
classification  of  recent  Fishes  is  in  a  peculiar  degree  appli- 
cable to  fossil  Fishes,  being  founded  on  the  character  of  the 
external  coverings,  or  Scales.  This  character  is  so  sure 
and  constant,  that  the  preservation  even  ofa  single  scale,  will 
often  announce  the  genus  and  even  the  species  of  the  animal 
from  which  it  was  derived ;  just  as  certain  feathers  announce 
to  a  skilful  ornithologist  the  genus  or  species  of  a  Bird.  It 
follows  still  farther,  that  as  the  nature  of  their  outward 
covering  indicates  the  relations  of  all  animals  to  the  external 
world,  we  derive  from  their  scales  certain  indications  of  the 

Cuvier;  and  one  great  proof  of  this  imperfection  is  that  they  have  led  to  no 
general  results,  either  in  Natural  History,  Physiolog^y,  or  Geology. 

*  No  existing  genus  is  found  among  the  fossil  Fishes  of  any  stratum 
older  than  the  Chalk  formation.  In  the  inferior  chalk  there  is  one  living 
genup,  Fislularia;  in  the  true  chalk,  five;  and  in  the  tertiary  strata  of 
M.  Bolca,  thirty-nine  living  genera,  and  lliirty.eight  which  are  extinct. — 
Agassiz. 


SYSTEM  OF  AGASSIZ.  206 

relations  of  Fishes  ;*  the  scales  forming  a  kind  of  external 
skeleton,  analogous  to  the  crustaceous  or  horny  coverings 
of  Insects,  to  the  feathers  of  Birds,  and  the  fur  of  Quadru- 
peds, which  shows  more  directly  than  the  internal  bones, 
their  adaptation  to  the  medium  in  which  they  lived. 

A  farther  advantage  arises  from  the  fact  that  the  ena- 
melled condition  of  the  scales  of  most  Fishes,  w^hich  existed 
during  the  earlier  geological  epochs,  rendered  them  much 
less  destructible  than  their  internal  skeleton ;  and  cases  fre- 
quently occur  where  the  entire  scales  and  figures  of  the 
Fish  are  perfectly  preserved,  whilst  the  bones  within  these 
scales  have  altogether  disappeared;  the  enamel  of  the  scales 
being  less  soluble  than  the  more  calcareous  material  of  the 
bone.f 


*  The  foundation  of  this  character  is  laid  upon  the  dermal  covering,  the 
skin  being  that  organ  wliich,  more  than  any  other  part  of  the  body,  ehowe 
the  relation  of  every  animal  to  the  element  in  which  it  moves. 

The  form  and  conditions  of  the  feathers  and  down  show  the  relation  of 
Birds  to  the  air  in  which  they  fly,  or  the  water  in  which  they  swim  or  dive. 
The  varied  forms  of  fur  and  hair  and  bristles  on  the  skins  of  Beasts  are 
adapted  to  their  respective  place,  and  climate,  and  occupations  upon  the 
land.  The  scales  of  Fishes  show  a  similar  adaptation  to  their  varied  place 
and  occupations  beneath  the  waters. 

Mr.  Burehell  informs  me  that  he  has  observed,  both  in  Africa  and  South 
America,  that  in  the  order  of  Serpents  a  peculiar  character  of  the  scales  ap- 
pears to  indicate  a  natural  subdivision ;  and  that  in  that  tribe,  to  which  the 
Viper  and  nearly  all  the  venomous  Snakes  belong,  an  acute  ridge,  or  carina, 
along  each  dorsal  scale  may  be  considered  as  a  distinctive  mark. 

t  The  following  are  the  new  Orders,  in  which  M.  Agassiz  divides  the  Class 
of  Fishes. 

First  Order,  PLACOIDIANS.  (PI.  27,  Figs.  1,  2,  Etym.  ^A*f,  a  broad 
plate.)  Fishes  of  this  Order  are  characterized  by  having  their  akin 
covered  irregularly  with  plates  of  enamel,  often  of  considerable  dimen- 
sions,  and  sometimes  reduced  to  small  points,  like  the  shagreen  on  the 
skins  of  many  Sharks,  and  the  prickly,  tooth-like  tubercles  on  the  skin  of 
Rays.  It  compreliends  all  the  cartilaginous  fishes  of  Cuvier,  excepting  the 
Sturgeon. 

The  enamelled  prickly  tubercles  on  the  skin  of  Sharks  and  Dog-Fisheg 
VOL.  I. — 18 


206  FOSSIL  FISHES. 

Jt  must  be  obvious  that  another  and  most  important 
branch  of  natural  history  is  enhsted  in  aid  of  Geology,  as 
soon  as  the  study  of  the  character  of  fossil  Fishes  has  been 
established  on  any  footing,  which  admits  of  such  general 
application  as  the  system  now  proposed.  We  introduce  an 
additional  element  into  geological  calculations ;  we  bring 
an  engine  of  great  power,  hitherto  unapplied,  to  bear  on 
the  field  of  our  inquiry,  and  seem  almost  to  add  a  new 
sense  to  our  powers  of  geological  perception.  The  general 
result  is,  that  fossil  Fishes  approximate  nearest  to  existing 
genera  and  species,  in  the  most  recent  Tertiary  deposits; 
and  differ  from  them  most  widely  in  strata  whose  antiquity 
is  the  highest;  and  that  strata  of  intermediate  age  are 
marked  by  intermediate  changes  of  ichthyological  condi- 
tion. 

are  well  known,  from  the  use  made  of  them  in  rasping  and  polishing  wood, 
and  for  shagreen. 

Second  Order,  GANOIDJANS.  (PI.  27,  3,  4.  Etym.  yxm,  splendour, 
from  the  bright  surface  of  their  enamel.)  The  families  of  this  Order  are 
characterized  by  angular  scales,  composed  of  horny  or  bony  plates,  covered 
with  a  thick  plate  of  enamel.  The  bony  Pike  (Lepidosteus  Osseus,  PI.  27% 
Fig.  1;)  and  Sturgeons  are  of  this  Order.  It  contains  more  than  sixty  ge- 
nera, of  which  fifty  are  extinct. 

Third  Order,  CTENOIDIANS.  (PI.  27,  Figs.  5,  6.  Etym.  xrsve,  a 
comb.)  The  Ctenoidians  have  their  scales  jagged  or  pectinated,  like  the  teetli 
of  a  comb,  on  their  posterior  margin.  They  are  formed  of  laminae  of  horn 
or  bone,  but  have  no  enamel.  The  Perch  affords  a  familiar  example  of  scales 
constructed  on  this  principle. 

Fourth  Order,  CYCLOIDIANS.  (PI.  27,  Figs.  7,  8.  Etym.  kvkmu  a 
circle.)  Families  of  this  Order  have  their  scales  smooth,  and  simple  at  their 
margin,  and  often  ornamented  with  various  figures  on  the  upper  surface : 
these  scales  are  composed  of  laminae  of  horn  or  bone,  but  have  no  enamel. 
The  Herring  and  Salmon  are  examples  of  Cycloidians. 

Each  of  these  Orders  contains  both  cartilaginous  and  bony  Fishes :  the 
representatives  of  each  prevailed  in  diflferent  proportions  during  different 
epochs;  only  the  first  two  existed  before  the  commencement  of  the  Cretace- 
ous formations;  the  third  and  fourth  Orders,  which  contain  three-fourths  of 
the  eight  thousand  known  species  of  living  Fishes,  appear  for  the  first  time 
in  the  Cretaceous  strata,  when  all  the  preceding  fossil  genera  of  the  first  two 
Orders  had  become  extinct. 


CHANGES  OF    GENERA,  AND  SPECIES.  207 

It  appears  still  farther,  that  all  the  great  changes  in  the 
character  of  fossil  Fishes  take  place  simultaneously  with  the 
most  important  alterations  in  the  other  classes  of  fossil  ani- 
mals, and  in  fossil  vegetables;  and  also  in  the  mineral  con- 
dition of  the  strata.* 

It  is  satisfactory  to  find  that  these  conclusions  are  in  per- 
fect accordance  with  those  to  which  geologists  had  arrived 
from  other  data.  The  details  that  lead  to  them,  will  be  de- 
scribed by  M.  Agassiz,  in  a  work  of  many  volumes,  and  will 
form  a  continuation  of  the  Ossemens  Fossiles  of  Cuvier. 
From  the  parts  of  this  work  already  pubhshed,  and  from 
communications  by  the  author,  I  select  a  few  examples 
illustrating  the  character  of  some  of  the  most  remarkable 
families  of  fossil  Fishes. 

It  appears  that  the  character  of  fossil  Fishes  does  not 
change  insensibly  from  one  formation  to  another,  as  in  the 
case  of  many  Zoophytes  and  Testacea ;  nor  do  the  sarpe 
genera,  or  even  the  same  families,  pervade  successive  series 
of  great  formations  ;  but  their  changes  take  place  ahrwpily, 
at  certain  definite  points  in  the  vertical  succession  of  the 
strata,  like  the  sudden  changes  that  occur  in  fossil  Reptiles 
and  Mammalia.f     Not  a  single  species  of  fossil  Fishes  has 

*  The  genera  ofFislies  wliich  prevail  in  strata  of  the  Carboniferous  order 
are  found  no  more  after  tlic  deposition  of  tlie  Zechstein,  or  Magr*sian  lime- 
stone. Those  of  the  Oolitic  series  were  introduced  after  tlie  Zcehstein,  and 
ceased  suddenly  at  the  commencement  of  the  Cretaceous  formations.  The 
genera  of  the  Cretaceous  formations  are  the  first  that  approximate  to  exist- 
ing genera.  Those  of  the  lower  Tertiary  deposites  of  London,  Paris,  and 
Monte  Bolca,  are  still  more  nearly  allied  to  existing  forms  ;  and  the  fossil 
Fishes  of  Oenirgen  and  Aix  approximate  again  yet  closer  to  living  genera, 
although  every  one  of  their  species  appears  to  be  extinct. 

t  M.  Agassiz  observes  that  fossil  Fishes  in  the  same  formation  present 
greater  variation  of  species  at  distant  localities,  than  we  find  in  the  species 
of  shells  and  Zoophytes,  in  corresponding  parts  of  the  same  formation ;  and 
that  this  circumstance  is  readily  explained  by  the  greater  locomotive  powers 
of  this  higher  class  of  animals. 


208  SAUROID  FISHES. 

yet  been  found  that  is  common  to  any  two  great  geological 
formations ;  or  living  in  our  present  seas.* 

One  important  geological  result  has  already  attended  the 
researches  of  M.  Agassiz,  viz.  that  the  age  and  place  of 
several  formations  hitherto  unexplained  by  any  other  cha- 
racter, have  been  made  clear  by  a  knowledge  of  the  fossil 
Fishes  which  they  contain.f 

Sauroid  Fishes  in  the  Order  Ganoid. 

The  voracious  family  of  Sauroid,  or  Lizard-like  Fishes, 
first  claims  our  attention,  and  is  highly  important  in  the 
physiological  consideration  of  the  history  of  Fishes,  as  it 

*  The  nodules  of  clay  stone  on  the  coast  of  Greenland,  containina^  fishes 
of  a  species  now  living  in  the  adjacent  seas,  (Mallotus  Villosus)  are  probably 
modern  concretions. 

f  Thus  the  slate  of  Engl,  in  the  canton  of  Claris,  in  Switzerland,  has  long 
been  one  of  tiie  most  celebrated,  and  least  understood  localities  of  fossil  Fishes 
in  Europe,  and  the  mineral  character  of  this  slate  had  till  lately  caused  it  to 
be  referred  to  the  early  period  of  the  Transition  series,  M.  Agassiz  has 
found  that  among  its  numerous  fisiies,  there  is  not  one  belonging  to  a  single 
genus,  that  occurs  in  any  formation  older  than  the  Cretaceous  series ;  but 
that  many  of  them  agree  with  fossil  species  found  in  Bohemia,  in  the  lower 
Cretaceous  formation,  or  Planer  kalk ;  hence  he  infers  that  the  Claris  slate 
is  an  altered  condition  of  an  argillaceous  depositc,  subordinate  to  the  great 
Cretaceous  formations  of  other  parts  of  Europe,  probably  of  the  Gault. 

Another  example  of  the  value  of  Ichthyology,  in  illustration  of  Geology, 
occurs  in  the  fact,  that  as  the  fossil  Fishes  of  the  VVealden  estuary  forma- 
tion  are  referable  to  genera  that  characterize  the  strata  of  the  Oolitic  series, 
the  Wealden  deposiles  are  hereby  connected  with  the  Oolitic  period  that 
preceded  their  commencement,  and  arc  separated  from  the  Cretaceous  for- 
mations that  followed  their  termination.  A  change  in  the  condition  of  the 
higher  orders  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  waters  seems  to  have  accompanied 
tlie  changes  that  occurred  in  the  genera  and  species  of  inferior  animals  at 
the  commencement  of  the  Cretaceous  formations. 

A  third  example  occurs,  in  the  fact  that  M.  Agassiz  has,  by  resemblances 
in  the  character  of  their  fossil  Fishes,  identified  the  hitiierto  unknown  pe- 
riods of  the  fresh-water  deposites  of  Oeningen,  and  of  Aix  in  Provence,  with 
that  of  the  Molasse  of  Switzerland. 


SAUROID  FISHES.  209 

combines  in  the  structure  both  of  the  bones,  and  some  of 
the  soft  parts,  characters  which  are  common  to  the  class 
of  reptiles.  M.  Agassiz  has  already  ascertained  seventeen 
genera  of  Sauroid  Fishes.  Their  only  living  representa- 
tives are  the  genus  Lepidosteus,*  or  bony  Pike  (PI.  27*  Fig. 
1.)  and  the  genus  Polypterus  (Agass.  Poiss.  Foss.  Vol.  2. 
Tab.  C.)  the  former  containing  five  species,  and  the  latter 
two.  Both  these  genera  are  found  only  in  fresh-waters, 
the  Lepidosteus  in  the  rivers  of  North  America,  and  the 
Polypterus  in  the  Nile,  and  the  waters  of  Senegal.f 

The  teeth  of  the  Sauroid  Fishes  are  striated  longitudi- 
nally towards  the  base,  and  have  a  hollow  cone  within. 
(See  PI.  27%  2,  3,  4;  and  PI.  27.  9,  10,  11,  12,  13,14.)  The 
bones  of  the  palate  also  are  furnished  with  a  large  appa- 
ratus of  teeth  .J 

PI.  27,  Figs.  11,  12,  13,  14,  represent  teeth  of  the  largest 
Sauroid  Fishes  yet  discovered,  equalling  in  size  the  teeth 
of  the  largest  Crocodiles :  they  occur  in  the  lower  region 
of  the  coal  formation  near  Edinburgh,  and  are  referred  by 
M.  Agassiz  to  a  new  genus,  Megalichthys.  PI.  27,  Fig.  9, 
and  PI.  27%  Fig.  4,  are  fragments  of  jaws,  containing  many 


*  Lepidosteus  Agassiz — Lepisosteus  Lacepede. 

t  The  bones  of  the  skull,  in  Sauroid  Fishes,  are  united  by  closer  sutures 
than  those  of  common  Fishes.  The  vertebriB  articulate  with  the  spinous 
processes  by  sutures,  like  the  vertebrce  of  Saurians  ;  the  ribs  also  articulate 
with  the  extremities  of  the  transverse  processes.  The  caudal  vertebrae  have 
distinct  chevron  bones,  and  the  general  condition  of  the  skeleton  is  stronger 
and  more  solid  than  in  other  Fishes  :  the  air-bladder  also  is  bifid  and  cellu- 
lar, approacliing  to  the  character  of  lungs,  and  in  the  throat  there  is  a  glot- 
tis, as  in  Sirens  and  Salamanders,  and  many  Saurians, — See  Report  of  Pro- 
ceedings of  Zool.  Soc.  London,  October,  1834. 

t  The  object  of  the  extensive  apparatus  of  teeth,  over  the  Whole  interior  of 
the  mouth  of  many  of  the  most  voracious  Fishes,  appears  not  to  be  for  mas- 
tication, but  to  enable  them  to  hold  fast,  and  swallow  the  slippery  bodies  of 
•ther  Fishes  that  form  their  prey.  No  one  who  has  handled  a  living  Troat 
or  Eel  can  fail  to  appreciate  duly  the  importance  of  the  apparatus  in  que?,. 
Uon. 

18* 


210  GEOLOGICAL  DISTRIBUTION 

smaller  teeth  of  the  same  kind.  The  external  form  of  all 
these  teeth  are  nearly  conical,  and  within  them  is  a  conical 
cavity,  like  that  within  the  teeth  of  many  Saurians ;  their 
base  is  fluted,  like  the  base  of  the  teeth  of  the  Ichthyosaurus. 
Their  prodigious  size  shows  the  magnitude  which  Fishes 
of  this  family  attained  at  a  period  so  early  as  that  of  the 
Coal  formation:*  their  structure  coincides  entirely  with 
that  of  the  teeth  of  the  living  Lepidosteus  osseus.  (PI.  27*, 
Figs.  1,  2,  3.) 

Smaller  Sauroid  Fishes  only  have  been  noticed  in  the 

*  We  owe  the  discovery  of  tiiese  vsry  curious  teetli,  and  much  valuable 
information  on  the  Geology  of  the  neighbourhood  of  Edinburgh,  to  the  zeal 
and  discernment  of  Dr.  Hibbert,  in  the  spring  of  1834.  The  limestone  in 
which  these  Fishes  occur  lies  near  the  bottom  of  the  Coal  formation,  and  is 
loaded  with  Coprolites,  derived  apparently  from  predaceous  Fishes.  It  is 
abundantly  charged  also  with  ferns,  and  other  plants  of  the  coal  formation; 
and  with  the  crustaceous  remains  of  Cypris,  a  genus  known  only  as  an  in- 
habitant of  fresh-water.  These  circumstances,  and  the  absence  of  Corals 
and  Encrinites,  and  of  all  species  of  marine  shells,  render  it  probable  that  this 
deposite  was  formed  in  a  fresh-water  lake,  or  estuary.  It  has  been  recog- 
nised in  various  and  distant  places,  at  the  bottom  of  the  carboniferous  strata 
near  Edinburgh. 

In  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh,  Vol.  XIII.  Dr.  Hib- 
bert has  published  a  most  interesting  description  of  the  recent  discoveries 
made  in  the  limestone  of  Burdie  House,  illustrated  with  engravings,  from 
which  the  larger  teeth  in  our  plate  are  copied.  (Pi.  27,  Fig.  11,  12,  13,  14.) 
The  smaller  figures,  PI.  27,  Fig,  9,  and  Pi.  27»,  Fig.  4,  are  drawn  from  spe- 
cimens belonging  to  Dr.  Hibbert  and  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh. 

In  this  memoir,  Dr.  Hibbert  has  also  published  figures  of  some  curious 
large  scales,  found  at  Burdie  House,  with  the  teeth  of  Megalichthys,  and  re- 
ferred by  M.  Agassiz  to  that  Fish.  Similar  scales  have  been  noticed  in 
various  parts  of  the  Edinburgh  Coal  field,  and  also  in  the  Coal  formation  of 
Newcastle-on-Tyne.  Unique  specimens  of  the  heads  of  two  similar  Fishes, 
and  part  of  a  body  covered  with  scales,  from  the  Coal  field  near  Leeds,  are 
preserved  in  the  museum  of  that  tovyn. 

Sir  Philip  Grey  Egerton  has  recently  discovered  scales  of  the  Megalich- 
thys, with  teeth  and  bones  of  some  other  Fishes,  and  also  Coprolites,  in  the 
Coal  formation  of  Silverdale,  and  Newcastle-undcf-Line.  These  occur  in 
a  stratum  of  shale,  containing  siiells  of  three  species  of  Unio,  with  balls  of 
irgillaceous  iron  ore  and  plants,^ 


OF  SAUROID  FISHES.  211 

Magnesian  limestone,  forming  about  one-fifth  of  the  total 
number  yet  observed  in  this  formation.  Very  large  bones 
of  this  voracious  family  occur  in  the  lias  of  Whitby  and 
Lyme  Regis,  and  its  genera  abound  throughout  the  Oohte 
formation.*  In  the  Cretaceous  formations  they  become 
extremely  rare.f  They  have  not  yet  been  discovered  in, 
any  of  the  Tertiary  strata;  and  in  the  waters  of  the  pre- 
sent world  are  reduced  to  the  two  genera^  Lepidosteus  and 
Polypterus. 

Thus  we  see  that  this  family  of  Sauroids  holds  a  very  im- 
portant place  in  the  history  of  fossil  Fishes.  In  the  waters 
of  the  Transition  period,  the  Sauroids  and  Sharks  constituted 
the  chief  voracious  forms,  destined  to  fulfil  the  important 
office  of  checking  excessive  increase  of  the  inferior  families. 
In  the  secondary  strata,,  this  office  was  largely  shared  by 
Ichthyosauri  and  other  marine  Saurians,  until  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Chalk..  The  cessation  of  these  Reptiles 
and  of  the  semi-reptile  Sauroid  Fishes  in  the  Tertiary  for- 
mations made  room  for  the  introduction  of  other  predaceous 
families,  approaching  more  nearly  to  those  of  the  present 
creation.^ 

*  The  Aspidorhynchus,  from  the  Jurassic  limestone  of  Solenhofen,  (PI 
27*,  Fig.  5,)  represents  the  general  character  of  the  Sauroid  Fishes. 

t  The  Macropoma  is  the  only  genus  of  Sauroid  Fishes  yet  found  in  tho 
Chalk  of  England. 

t  Much  light  has  been  thrown  on  the  history  of  Fishes  in  the  Old  red 
sandstone  at  the  base  of  the  Carboniferous  series,  by  the  discoveries  of  Pro- 
fessor Sedgwick  and  Mr.  Murcliison,  in  tlie  bituminous  schist  of  Caithness, 
(Geol.  Trans.  Lond.  n.  s.  Vol.  3,  part  1. ;)  and  those  of  Dr.  Traile,  in  the 
same  schist  in  Orkney.  Dr.  Fleming  also  has  made  important  observations 
on  Fishes  in  the  old  red  sandstone  of  Fifeshire.  Farther  discoveries  have 
been  made  by  Mr.  Murchison  of  Fishes  in  the  old  red  sandstone  of  Salop 
and  Herefordshire,  The  general  conditions  of  all  these  Fishes  accord  with 
those  in  the  carboniferous  series,  but  their  specific  details  present  most 
interesting  peculiarities.  Many  of  them  will  be  figured  by  Mr.  MurchisoR 
in  his  splendid  Illustrations  of  the  Geology  of  the  Border  Counties  of  Eng- 
land and  Wales. 


212  FOSSIL  FISHES. 


Fishes  in  Strata  of  the  Carboniferous  Order. 

I  select  the  genus  Amblypterus  (PI.  27^,)  as  an  example 
of  Fishes  whose  duration  was  limited  to  the  early  periods 
of  geological  Formations ;  and  which  are  marked  by  cha- 
racters that  cease  after  the  deposition  of  the  Magnesian  lime- 
stone. 

This  genus  occurs  only  in  strata  of  the  Carboniferous  or- 
der, and  presents  four  species  at  Saarbriick,  in  Lorraine  ;* 
it  is  found  also  in  Brazil.  The  character  of  the  teeth  in 
Amblypterus,  and  most  of  the  genera  of  this  early  epoch, 
shows  the  habit  of  these  Fishes  to  have  been  to  feed  on  de- 
cayed sea-weed,  and  soft  animal  substances  at  the  bottom 
of  the  water :  they  are  all  small  and  numerous,  and  set  close 
together  like  a  brush.  The  form  of  the  body,  being  not  cal- 
culated for  rapid  progression,  accords  with  this  habit. 

The  vertebral  column  continues  into  the  upper  lobe  of  the 
tail,  which  is  much  longer  than  the  lower  lobe,  and  is  thus 
adapted  to  sustain  the  body  in  an  inclined  position,  with  the 
head  and  mouth  nearest  to  the  bottom. 

Among  existing  cartilaginous  Fishes,  the  vertebral  column 
is  prolonged  into  the  upper  lobe  of  the  tail  of  Sturgeons  and 
Sharks:  the  former  of  these  perform  the  office  of  scavengers, 
to  clear  the  water  of  impurities,  and  have  no  teeth,  but  feed  by 
means  of  a  soft  leather-like  mouth,  capable  of  protrusion  and 

*  The  Fishes  at  Saarbilck  arc  usually  found  in  balls  of  clay  ironstone, 
which  form  nodules  in  strata  of  bituminous  coal  shale.  Lord  Greenock  lias 
recently  discovered  many  interesting  examples  of  this,  and  otlier  genera  of 
Fishes  in  the  coal  formation  at  N e\v haven,  and  Wardie,  near  Leitii.  The 
shore  at  Ncwhaven  is  strewed  with  nodules  of  ironstone,  washed  out  by  the 
action  of  the  tide,  from  slialc  beds  of  the  coal  formation.  Many  of  these 
ironstones  have  for  their  nucleus  a  fossil  Amblypterus,  or  some  other 
Fish ;  and  an  infinitely  greater  number  contain  Coprolites,  apparently  de- 
rived from  a  voracious  species  of  Pygopterus,  that  preyed  upon  the  smaller 
Fifibes. 


FISHES    m    MAGNESIAN    LIMESTONE.  213 

contraction,  on  putrid  vegetables  and  animal  substances  at  the 
bottom ;  hence  they  have  constant  occasion  to  keep  their 
bodies  in  the  same  inclined  position  as  the  extinct  fossil 
Fishes,  whose  feeble  brush-like  teeth  show  that  they  also  fed 
on  soft  substances  in  similar  situations.* 

The  Sharks  employ  their  tail  in  another  peculiar  manner, 
to  turn  their  body  in  order  to  bring  the  mouth,  which  is 
placed  downwards  beneath  the  head,  into  contact  with  their 
prey.  We  find  an  important  provision  in  every  animal  to 
give  a  position  of  ease  and  activity  to  the  head  during  the 
operation  of  feeding.f 

Fishes  of  the  Magnesian  Limestone,  or  Zechstein. 

The  Fishes  of  the  Zechstein  at  Mansfeld  and  Eisleben 
have  been  long  known,  and  are  common  in  all  collections ; 
figures  of  many  species  are  given  by  M.  Agassiz.  Exam- 
ples of  the  Fishes  of  the  Magnesian  limestone  of  the  north 
of  England,  are  described  and  figured  by  Professor  Sedg- 
wick, in  the  Geol.  Trans,  of  London,  (2d  Series,  Vol.  iii.  p. 
117,  and  PI.  8,  9,  10.)  He  states  in  this  paper  (p.  99,)  that 
the  occurrence  of  certain  Corals  and  Encrinites,  and  several 
species  of  Producta,  Area,  Terebratula,  Spirifier,  &c.  shows 
that  the  Magnesian  limestone  is  more  nearly  allied  in  its 

♦  At  the  siege  of  Silistria,  the  Sturgeons  of  the  Danube  were  observed  to 
feed  voraciously  on  the  putrid  bodies  of  the  Turks  and  Russian  soldiers  that 
were  cast  into  that  river. 

•j-  This  remarkable  elongation  of  the  superior  lobe  of  the  tail  is  found  in 
every  bony  Fish  of  strata  anterior  to  and  including  the  Magnesian  lime- 
stone ;  but  in  strata  above  this  limestone  the  tail  is  usually  regular  and  sym- 
metrical. In  certain  bony  Fishes  of  tiie  secondary  period,  the  upper  lobe  of 
the  tail  is  partly  covered  with  scales,  but  without  vertebrae.  The  bodies  of 
all  these  Fishes  also  have  an  integument  of  rhomboidal  body  scales,  covered! 
with  enamel. 

No  species  of  Fish  has  been  found  common  to  the  Carboniferous  group, 
and  to  the  Zechstein  or  Magnesian  limestone;  but  certain  genera  occur  in 
both,  e.  g.  the  genus  Palseoniscus  and  Polypterus. 


214  MUSCHELKALK,    LIAS,    AND    OOLITE. 

zoological  characters  to  the  Carboniferous  order,  than  to  the- 
calcareous  formations  which  are  superior  to  the  New  red 
sandstone.  This  conclusion  accords  with  that  which  M- 
Agassiz  has  drawn  from  the  character  of  its  fossil  Fishes. 

Fishes  of  the  Muschelkalk,  Lias,  and  Oolite  Formations. 

The  Fishes  of  the  Muschelkalk  are  either  peculiar  to  it. 
or  similar  to  those  of  the  Lias  and  Oolite.  The  figure  en- 
graved at  PI.  27%  is  selected  as  an  example  of  the  charac- 
ter of  a  family  of  Fishes  most  abundant  in  the  Jurassic  or 
Oolite  formation ;  it  represents  the  genus  Microdon  in  the 
family  of  Pycnodonts,  or  thick-toothed  Fishes,  which  pre- 
vailed extensively  during  the  middle  ages  of  Geological  His- 
tory. Of  this  extinct  family  there  are  five  genera.  Their 
leading  character  consists  in  a  peculiar  armature  of  all 
parts  of  the  mouth  with  a  pavement  of  thick  round  and  flat 
teeth,  the  remains  of  which,  under  the  name  of  Bufonites, 
occur  most  abundantly  throughout  the  Oolite  formation.* 
The  use  of  this  pecuUar  apparatus  was  to  crush  small  shells^ 
and  small  Crustacea,  and  to  comminute  putrescent  sea- 
weeds. The  habits  of  the  family  of  Pycnodonts  appear 
to  have  been  omnivorous,  and  their  power  of  progression 
slow.f 

Another  family  of  these  singular  Fishes  of  the  ancient 
world,  which  was  exceedingly  abundant  in  the  Oolitic  or 
Jurassic  series,  is  that  of  the  Lepidoids,  a  family  still  more 

*  PI.  27c.  Fig-.  3.  represents  a  five-fold  series  of  these  teeth  on  the  palate 
of  Pycnodus  trigonus  from  Stonesfield ;  and  Fig-.  2,  a  series  of  similar  teeth 
placed  on  the  vomer  in  the  palate  of  the  Gyrodus  Umbilieus  from  the  great 
Oolite  of  Durrhcim,  in  Baden. 

■j-  A  similar  apparatus  occurs  in  a  living  family  of  the  Order  Cycloids,  in 
the  case  of  tiie  modern  omnivorous  Sea  Wolf,  Anarrhicas  Lupus,  and  other 
recent  Fishes  of  different  families.  M.  Agassiz  observes,  that  it  is  a  common 
fact,  in  the  class  of  Fishes,  to  find  nearly  all  the  modifications  which  the 
teeth  of  these  animals  present,  recurring  in  several  families,  which  in  other 
respects  are  very  different. 


LEPIDOID  FISHES.  215 

remarkable  than  the  Pycnodonts  for  their  large  rhomboidal 
bony  scales,  of  great  thickness,  and  covered  with  beautiful 
enamel.  The  Dapedium  of  the  lias  (PI.  1.  Fig.  54.)  affords 
an  example  of  these  scales,  well  known  to  geologists.  They 
are  usually  furnished  on  their  upper  margin  with  a  large 
process  or  hook,  placed  like  the  hook  or  peg  near  the  upper 
margin  of  a  tile  ;  this  hook  fits  into  a  depression  on  the  lower 
margin  of  the  scales  placed  next  above  it.  (See  PI.  27, 
Figs.  3,  4,  and  PI.  15,  Fig.  17.)  All  Ganoidian  Fishes,  of 
every  formation,  prior  to  the  Chalk,  were  enclosed  in  a 
similar  cuirass,  composed  of  bony  scales,  covered  with 
enamel,  and  extending  from  the  head  to  the  rays  of  the 
tail.*  One  or  two  species  only,  having  this  peculiar  arma- 
ture of  enamelled  bony  scales,  have  yet  been  discovered  in 
the  Cretaceous  series ;  and  three  or  four  species  in  the  Ter- 
tiary formations.  Among  living  Fishes,  scales  of  this  kind 
occur  only  in  the  two  genera,  Lepidosteus  and  Polypterus. 
Not  a  single  genus  of  all  that  are  found  in  the  Oohtic  se- 
ries exists  at  the  present  time.  The  most  abundant  Fishes 
of  the  Wealden  formation  belong  to  genera  that  prevailed 
through  the  Oolitic  period. f 

♦  The  Pycnodonts,  as  well  as  the  fossil  Sauroids,  have  enamelled  scales,  but 
it  is  in  the  Leipidoids  that  scales  of  this  kind  are  most  highly  developed.  M. 
Agassiz'has  ascertained  nearly  200  fossil  species  that  had  this  kind  of  armour. 
The  use  of  such  a  universal  covering  of  thick  bony  and  enamelled  scales 
surrounding  like  a  cuirass  the  entire  bodies  of  so  many  species  of  Fishes,  in 
all  formations  anterior  to  the  Cretaceous  deposites,  may  have  been  to  defend 
their  bodies  against  waters  that  were  warmer,  or  subject  to  more  suddeu 
changes  of  temperature  than  could  be  endured  by  Fishes,  whose  skin  was 
protected  only  by  such  thin,  and  often  disconnected  coverings,  as  the  mem- 
branous and  horny  scales  of  most  modern  Fishes. 

-j-  The  most  remarkable  of  these  are  the  genus  Lepidotus,  Pholidophorus, 
Pycnodus,  and  Hybodus. 


216  FOSSIL  FISHES. 


Fishes  of  the  Chalk  Formation. 

The  next  and  most  remarkable  of  all  changes  in  the  cha» 
racter  of  Fishes,  takes  place  at  the  commencement  of  the 
Cretaceous  formations.  Genera  of  the  first  and  second  or- 
ders (Placoidean  and  Ganoidean,)  which  had  prevailed  ex- 
clusively in  all  formations  till  the  termination  of  the  Oolitic 
series,  ceased  suddenly,  and  were  replaced  by  genera  of 
new  orders  (Ctenoidean  and  Cycloidean,)  then  for  the  first 
time  introduced.  Nearly  two-thirds  of  the  latter  also  are 
now  extinct ;  but  these  approach  nearer  to  Fishes  of  the 
tertiary  series,  than  to  those  which  had  preceded  the  forma- 
tion of  the  Chalk. 

Comparing  the  Fishes  of  the  Chalk  with  those  of  the  elder 
Tertiary  formation  of  Monte  Bolca,  we  find  not  one  species, 
and  but  few  genera,  that  are  common  to  both.* 

Fishes  of  the  Tertiary  Formations. 
As  soon  as  we  enter  on  the  Tertiary  strata,  another  change 

*  It  has  been  already  stated,  that  the  remarkable  deposite  of  fossil  Fishes 
at  Engi,  in  the  Canton  of  Claris,  are  referred  by  M.  Agassiz  to  the  lower 
portion  of  the  Cretaceous  system. 

Many  genera  of  these  are  identical  with,  and  others  closely  approximate 
to,  the  fishes  of  the  Inferior  chalk  (Plilner  kalk)  of  Bohemia,  and  of  the 
Chalk  of  Westphalia  (secLeonhard  and  Bronn.  Neues  Jahrbuch,  1834.)  Al- 
though the  mineral  character  of  the  slate  of  Claris  presents,  as  we  have  be- 
fore stated,  an  appearance  of  high  antiquity,  its  age  is  probably  the  same  as  that 
of  the  Gault,  or  Speeton  clay  of  England.  This  alteration  of  character  is 
consistent  with  the  changes  that  have  given  an  air  of  higher  antiquity  than 
belongs  to  them,  to  most  of  the  Secondary  and  Tertiary  formations  in  the 
Alps. 

The  Fishes  of  the  Upper  chalk  arc  best  known  by  the  numerous  and 
splendid  examples  discovered  at  Lewes  by  Mr.  Mantcll,  and  figured  in  his 
works.  These  Fishes  are  in  an  unexampled  state  of  perfection;  in  the  ab- 
dominal  cavities  of  one  species  (Macropoma)  the  stomach,  and  coprolites  are 
preserved  entire,  in  their  natural  place. 


IN  THE  TERTIARY  FORMATIONS.  217 

takes  place  in  the  character  of  fossil  Fishes,  not  less  striking 
than  that  in  fossil  Shells. 

The  fishes  of  Monte  Bolca  are  of  the  Eocene  period,  and 
are  well  known  by  the  figures  engraved  in  the  Ittiolitologia 
Veronese,  of  Volta  ;  and  in  Knorr.  About  one-half  of  these 
fishes  belong  to  extinct  genera,  and  not  one  is  identical  with 
any  existing  species ;  they  are  all  marine,  and  the  greater 
number  approach  most  nearly  to  forms  now  living  witbiii 
the  tropics.* 

To  this  first  period  of  the  Tertiary  formations  belong 
also  the  Fishes  of  the  London  clay ;  many  of  the  species 
found  in  Sheppy,  though  not  identical  with  those  of  Monte 
Bolca,  are  closely  allied  to  them.  The  Fishes  of  Libanus  also 
are  of  this  era.  The  Fishes  in  the  gypsum  of  Mont  IMartre 
are  referred  to  the  same  period  by  M.  Agassiz,  who  differs 
from  Cuvier,  in  attributing  them  all  to  extinct  genera. 

The  Fishes  of  Oeningen  have,  by  all  writers,  been  re- 
ferred to  a  very  recent  local  lacustrine  deposite.  M.  Agas- 
siz assigns  them  to  the  second  period  of  the  Tertiary  for- 
mations, coeval  with  the  Molasse  of  Switzerland  and  the 
sandstone  of  Fontainbleau.  Of  seventeen  extinct  species, 
one  only  is  of  an  extra-European  genus,  and  all  belong  to 
existing  genera. 

The  gypsum  of  Aix  contains  some  species  referable  to 
one  of  the  extinct  genera  of  Mont  Martre,  but  the  greatest 
part  are  of  existing  genera.  M.  Agassiz  considers  the  age 
of  this  formation  as  nearly  coinciding  with  that  of  the 
Oeningen  deposites. 

The  Fishes  of  the  Crag  of  Norfolk,  and  the  superior 
Sub-apenninc  formation,   as    far  as   they  arc   yet  known, 

*  M.  Agassiz  has  rc-arrangcd  these  Fishes  under  127  Species,  all  ex- 
tinct, and  77  Genera.  Of  these  Genera  38  are  extinct,  and  39  still  living: 
the  latter  present  81  fossil  species  at  Monte  Bolca,  and  the  former  4fi 
species.  These  39  living  Genera  appear  for  the  first  time  in  this  forma- 
tion. 

VOL.  I. — 19 


218  FOSSIL  SHARKS. 

appear  for  the  most  part  related  to  genera  now  common 
in  tropical  seas,  but  are  all  of  extinct  species. 

Family  of  Sharks. 

As  the  family  of  Sharks  is  one  of  the  most  universally 
diffused  and  most  voracious  among  modern  Fishes,  so  there 
is  no  period  in  geological  history  in  which  many  of  its 
forms  did  not  prevail.*  Geologists  are  famihar  with  the 
occurrence  of  various  kinds  of  large,  and  beautifully  ena- 
melled teeth,  some  of  them  resembling  the  external  form 
of  a  contracted  leech,  (PL  27%  and  27^:)  these  are  com- 
monly described  by  the  name  of  Palate  bones,  or  Palates. 
As  these  teeth  are  usually  insulated,  there  is  little  evidence 
to  indicate  from  what  animals  they  have  been  deriv^ed. 

In  the  same  strata  with  them  are  found  large  bony  Spines, 
armed  on  one  side  with  prickles,  resembling  hooked  teeth, 
(see  PI.  27^  C.  3,  a.)  These  were  long  considered  to  be 
jaws,  and  true  teeth ;  more  recently  they  have  been  ascer- 
tained to  be  dorsal  spines  of  Fishes,  and  from  their  sup- 
posed defensive  office,  like  those  of  the  genus  Balistes  and 
Silurus,  have  been  named  Ichthyodorulites. 

M.  Agassiz  has  at  length  referred  all  these  bodies  to  ex- 
tinct genera  in  the  great  family  of  Sharks,  a  family  which 
he  separates  into  three  sub-families,  each  containing  forms 
pecuUar  to  certain  geological  epochs,  and  which  change 
simultaneously  with  the  other  great  changes  in  fossil  re- 
mains. 

The  first  and  oldest  sub-family,  Cestracionts,  beginning 
with  the  Transition  strata,  appears  in  eveiy  subsequent  for- 
mation, till  the  commencement  of  the  Tertiary,  and  has  only 
one  living  representative,  viz.  the  Cestracion  Phillippi, 
or  Port  Jackson  Shark.     (PI.  1.   Fig.  18.)     The  second 

*  M.  Agassiz  has  ascertained  the  existence  of  more  than  one  hundred  and 
fifty  extinct  spccice  of  fossil  Fishes  allied  to  this  family. 


THREE  SUB-FAMILIES.  219 

family,  Hyhodonts,  beginning  with  the  Muschel-kalk,  and 
perhaps  with  the  Coal  formation,  prevails  throughout  the 
Oolite  series,  and  ceases  at  the  commencement  of  the 
Chalk.  The  third  family  of  "  Squaloids,^'  or  true  Sharks, 
commences  with  the  Cretaceous  formation,  and  extends 
through  the  Tertiary  strata  into  the  actual  creation.* 

*  The  character  of  tlie  Cestracionts  is  marked  by  the  presence  of  large 
polygonal  obtuse  enamelled  teeth,  covering  the  interior  of  the  mouth  witli 
a  kind  of  tessellated  pavement.  (PI.  27'*.  A.  1,  3,  4,  and  PI.  21\  B.  1,  2,  3, 
4,  5.)  In  some  species  not  less  than  sixty  of  these  teeth  occupied  each  jaw. 
They  are  rarely  found  connected  together  in  a  fossil  state,  in  consequence  of 
the  perishable  nature  of  the  cartilaginous  bones  to  v/hich  they  were  attached; 
hence  the  spines  and  teeth  usually  afford  the  only  evidence  of  the  former 
existence  of  these  extinct  fossil  species.  They  are  dispersed  abundantly 
throughout  all  strata,  from  the  Corboniferous  scries  to  the  most  recent 
Chalk. 

In  plate  27«,  Figs,  1,  2,  represent  a  scries  of  teeth  of  the  genus  Acrodus, 
in  the  family  of  Cestracionts,  from  the  lias  of  Somersetshire ;  and  PI.  27^,  a 
series  of  teeth  of  the  genus  Ptychodus,  in  the  same  family,  a  genus  which 
occurs  abundantly  and  exclusively  in  the  Chalk  formation. 

In  the  section  PI.  1,  Fig.  19  represents  a  tooth  of  Psammodus,  and  Fig. 
19',  a  tooth  of  Orodus,  from  the  Carboniferous  limestone;  and  Fig.  18',  a 
recent  tooth  of  the  Cestracion  Phillippi.  The  Cestracion  Phillippi,  (PI.  1, 
Fig.  18,  and  PI.  27^,  A.)  is  the  only  living  species  in  the  family  of  Sharks 
that  has  flat  tessellated  teeth,  and  enables  us  to  refer  numerous  fossil  teeth 
of  similar  construction  to  the  same  family.  As  the  small  anterior  cutting 
teeth  (PI.  27'*,  A.  Figs.  ].  2.  5.)  in  this  species,  present  a  character  of  true 
Sharks,  which  has  not  been  found  in  any  of  the  fossil  Cestracionts,  we  have 
in  this  dentition  of  a  living  species,  the  only  known  link  that  connects  the 
nearly  extinct  family  of  Cestracionts  with  the  true  Sharks  or  Squaloids. 

The  second  division  of  the  family  of  Sharks,  Hyhodonts,  commencing  pro- 
bably with  the  Coal  formation,  prevailed  during  the  deposition  of  all  the 
Secondary  strata  beneath  the  Chalk;  the  teeth  of  this  division  possess  inter- 
mediate characters  between  the  blunt  polygonal  crushing  teeth  of  the  sub- 
family Cestracion,  and  the  smooth  and  sharp-edged  cutting  teeth  of  the 
Squaloids,  or  true  Sharks,  which  commenced  with  the  Cretaceous  f  jrmations. 
They  are  distinguished  from  those  of  true  Sharks  by  being  plicated,  both 
on  the  external  and  internal  surface  of  the  enamel.  (See  Plate  27^.  B.  Figs. 
8,  9,  10.)  Plate  27*C.  l''^  represents  a  rare  example  of  a  series  of  teeth  of 
Hybodus  reticulatus,  still  adhering  to  the  cartilaginous  jaw  bones,  from  the 
Lias  of  Lyme  Regis.  Striated  teeth  of  this  family  abound  in  the  Stonesfield 
slate  and  in  the  Wealden  formation. 


220  BONY  SPINES  OF  SHARKS. 

Fossil  Spines,  or  Ichihyodorulites.* 

The  bony  spines  of  the  dorsal  fins  of  the  Port  Jackson 
Shark  (PI.  1.  Fig.  18.)  throw  important  hght  on  the  history 
of  fossil  Spines;  and  enable  us  to  refer  those  very  comnaon. 
but  little  understood  fossils,  which  have  been  called  Ichthyo- 
dorulites^  to  extinct  genera  and  species  of  the  sub-family 
of  Cestracionts.  (See  page  218.)  Several  living  species 
of  the  great  family  of  Sharks  have  smooth  horny  spines 
connected  with  the  dorsal  fin.  In  the  Cestracion  Phillippi 
alone,  (PI.  1,  Fig.  18,)  we  find  a  hony  spine  armed  on  it? 
concave  side  with  tooth-like  hooks,  or  prickles,  similar  to 
those  that  occur  in  fossil  Ichthyodorulites :  these  hooks  act 
as  points  of  suspension  and  attachment,  whereby  the  dorsal 
fin  is  connected  with  this  bony  spine,  and  its  movements 

Another  genus  in  the  sub-family  of  Hybodoats,  is  the  Onchus,  found 
in  the  Lias  at  Lyme  Regis;  the  teeth  of  this  genus  are  represented,  PI.  27'', 
6.  6,  7. 

In  the  third,  or  Squaloid  division  of  fossils  of  this  family,  we  have  the 
character  of  true  Sharks ;  these  appear  for  the  first  time  in  the  Cretaceous 
formations,  and  extend  through  all  the  Tertiary  deposites  to  the  present  era. 
(PI.  27=^,  B.  11,  12,  13.)  In  this  division  the  surface  of  the  teeth  is  always 
smooth  on  the  outer  side,  and  sometimes  plicated  on  the  inner  side,  as  it  Is 
also  in  certain  living  species;  the  teeth  are  often  flat  and  lancet-shaped,  with 
a  sharp  cutting  border,  which,  in  many  species,  is  serrated  with  minute 
teeth.  Species  of  this  Squaloid  family  alone,  abound  in  all  strata  of  the  Ter- 
tiary formation,. 

The  greater  strength,  and  flattened  condition  of  the  teeth  of  the  families 
of  Sharks  (Cestracionts  and  Hybodonts,)  that  prevailed  in  the  Transition 
and  Secondary  formations  bencatli  the  Chalk,  had  relation,  most  probably, 
to  their  office  of  crushing  tiie  hard  coverings  of  the  Crustacea,  and  of  the 
bony  enamelled  scales  of  the  Fishes,  which  formed  their  food.  As  soon  a« 
Fishes  of  the  Cretaceous  and  Tertiary  formations  assumed  the  softer  scales 
of  modern  Fishes,  the  teeth  of  the  Squaloid  sub-family  assumed  the  sharp 
and  cutting  edges  that  ciiaracterize  the  teeth  of  living  Sharks.  Not  one 
species  of  the  hlunttoothcd  Cestraciont  family  lias  yet  been  discovered  ia 
:iny  Tertiary  formation^ 

*  See  PI.  27".  C.  3. 


FOSSIL  RAYS.  221 

regulated  by  the  elevation  or  depression  of  the  spine,  during 
the  peculiar  rotatory  action  of  the  body  of  Sharks.  This 
action  of  the  spine  in  raising  and  depressing  the  fin  resem- 
bles that  of  a  moveable  mast,  raising  and  lowering  back- 
wards the  sail  of  a  barge. 

The  common  Dog-Fish,  or  Spine  Shark,  (Spinax  Acan- 
thias,  Cuv.,)  and  the  Centrina  Vulgaris,  ha.ve  a  horny  ele- 
vator spine  on  each  of  their  dorsal  fins,  but  without  teeth  or 
hooks;  similar  small  toothless  horny  spines  have  been  found 
by  Mr.  Mantell  in  the  chalk  of  Lewes.  These  dorsal  spines 
had  probably  a  farther  use  as  oflfensive  and  defensive  weapons 
against  voracious  fishes,  or  against  larger  and  stronger  in- 
dividuals of  their  own  species.* 

The  variety  we  find  of  fossil  spines,  from  the  Graywacke 
series  to  the  Chalk  inclusive,  indicates  the  number  of  extinct 
genera  and  species  of  the  family  of  Sharks,  that  occupied 
the  waters  throughout  these  early  periods  of  time.  Not  less 
varied  are  the  forms  of  palate  bones  and  teeth,  in  the  same 
formations  that  contain  these  spines;  but  as  the  cartilagi- 
nous skeletons  to  which  they  belonged  have  usually  perished, 
and  the  teeth  and  spines  are  generally  dispersed,  it  is  chiefly 
by  the  aid  of  anatomical  analogies,  or  from  occasional  jux- 
taposition in  the  same  stratum,  that  their  respective  species 
can  be  ascertained. 

Fossil  'Rays. 
The  Rays  form  the  fourth  family  in   the  order  Placoi- 

*  Colonel  Smith  saw  a  captain  of  a  vessel  in  Jamaica  who  received  many 
severe  cuts  in  the  body  from  the  spines  of  a  Shark  in  Montego  Bay.  (See 
Griffith's  Cuvier.) 

The  Spines  of  Balistes  and  Silurus  have  not  their  base,  like  that  of  the 
spines  of  Sharks,  simply  imbedded  in  the  flesh,  and  attached  to  strong  mns- 
cles;  but  articulate  with  a  bone  beneath  them.  The  Spine  of  Balistes  also 
is  kept  erect  by  a  second  spine  behind  its  base,  acting  like  a  bolt  or  wedge, 
which  is  simultaneously  inserted,  or  withdrawn,  by  tiie  same  muscular  ma- 
lion  that  raises  or  depresses  the  spine. 

19* 


222  GENERAL  CONCLUSION. 

dians.  Genera  of  this  family  abound  among  living  fishes; 
but  they  have  not  been  found  fossil  in  any  stratum  older  than 
the  Lias ;  they  occur  also  in  the  Jurassic  limestone. 

Throughout  the  tertiary  formation  they  are  very  abun- 
dant ;  of  one  genus,  Myliobates,  there  are  seven  known  spe- 
cies ;  from  these  have  been  derived  the  palates  that  are  so 
frequent  in  the  London  clay  and  crag.  (See  PI.  21^,  B.  Fig. 
14.)  The  genus  Trygon,  and  Torpedo,  occur  also  in  the 
Tertiary  formations. 

Conclusion. 

In  the  facts  before  us,  we  have  an  uninterrupted  series  of 
evidence,  derived  from  the  family  of  Fishes,  by  which  both 
bony  and  cartilaginous  forms  of  this  family,  are  shown  to 
have  prevailed,  during  every  period,  from  the  first  com- 
mencement of  submarine  life,  unto  the  present  hour.  The 
similiarity  of  the  teeth,  and  scales,  and  bones,  of  the  earliest 
Sauroid  Fishes  of  the  coal  formation  (Megalichthys,)  to 
those  of  the  living  Lepidosteus,  and  the  correspondence  of 
tlie  teeth  and  bony  spines  of  the  only  living  Cestraciont  in 
the  family  of  Sharks,  with  the  numerous  extinct  forms  of 
that  sub-family,  which  abound  throughout  the  Carboniferous 
and  Secondary  formations,  connect  extreme  points  of  this 
grand  vertebrated  division  of  the  animal  kingdom,  by  one 
unbroken  chain,  more  uniform  and  continuous  than  has 
hitherto  been  discovered  in  the  entire  range  of  geological 
researches. 

It  results  from  the  review  here  taken  of  the  history  of 
fossil  Fishes,  that  this  important  class  of  vertebrated  animals 
presented  its  actual  gradations  of  structure  amongst  the 
earliest  inhabitants  of  our  planet ;  and  has  ever  performed 
the  same  important  functions  in  the  general  economy  of 
nature,  as  those  discharged  by  their  living  representatives 
in  our  modern  seas,  and  lakes,  and  rivers.  The  great  pur- 
pose of  their  existence  seems  at  all  times  to  have  been,  to 


COMMON    OBJECT    OF    CREATION-  223 

fill  the  waters  with  the  largest  possible  amount  of  animal 
enjoyment. 

The  sterility  and  solitude  which  have  sometimes  been 
attributed  to  the  depths  of  the  ocean,  exist  only  in  the  fic- 
tions of  poetic  fancy.  The  great  mass  of  the  water  that 
covers  nearly  three-fourths  of  the  globe  is  crowded  with 
life,  perhaps  more  abundantly  than  the  air  and  the  surface 
of  the  earth ;  and  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  within  a  certain 
depth,  accessible  to  light,  swarms  with  countless  hosts  of 
worms,  and  creeping  things,  which  represent  the  kindred 
families  of  low  degree  which  crawl  upon  the  land. 

The  common  object  of  creation  seems  ever  to  have  been, 
the  infinite  multiplication  of  life.  As  the  basis  of  animal 
nutrition  is  laid  in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  the  bed  of  the 
ocean  is  not  less  beautifully  clothed  with  submarine  vegeta- 
tion, than  the  surface  of  the  dry  land  with  verdant  herbs  and 
stately  forests.  In  both  cases,  the  undue  increase  of  herbi- 
vorous tribes  is  controlled  by  the  restraining  influence  of 
those  which  are  carnivorous ;  and  the  common  result  is, 
and  ever  has  been,  the  greatest  possible  amount  of  animal 
enjoyment  to  the  greatest  number  of  individuals. 

From  no  kingdom  of  nature  does  the  doctrine  of  gradual 
Developement  and  Transmutation  of  species  derive  less 
support,  than  from  the  progression  we  have  been  tracing  in 
the  class  of  Fishes.  The  Sauroid  Fishes  occupy  a  higher 
place  in  the  scale  of  organization,  than  the  ordinary  forms 
of  bony  Fishes ;  yet  we  find  examples  of  Sauroid s  of  the 
greatest  magnitude,  and  in  abundant  numbers  in  the  Carbo- 
niferous and  Secondary  formations,  whilst  they  almost  dis- 
appear and  are  replaced  by  less  perfect  forms  in  the  Ter- 
tiary strata,  and  present  only  two  genera  among  existing 
Fishes. 

In  this,  as  in  many  other  cases,  a  kind  of  retrograde  de- 
velopement, from  complex  to  simple  forms,  may  be  said  to 
have  taken  place.  As  some  of  the  more  early  Fishes 
united  in  a  single  species,  points  of  organization  which,  at  a 


224  FOSSIL    SHELLS. 

later  period,  are  found  distinct  in  separate  families,  these 
changes  would  seem  to  indicate  in  the  class  of  Fishes,  a 
process  of  Division  and  of  Subtraction  from  more  perfect, 
rather  than  of  Addition  to  less  perfect  forms. 

Among  living  Fishes,  many  parts  in  the  organization  of 
the  Cartilaginous  tribes,  (e.  g.  the  brain,  the  pancreas,  and 
organs  subservient  to  generation,)  are  of  a  higher  order 
than  the  corresponding  parts  in  the  Bony  tribes ;  yet  we 
find  the  cartilaginous  family  of  Squaloids  co-existing  with 
bony  fishes  in  the  Transition  strata,  and  extending  with 
them  through  all  geological  formations,  unto  the  present 
time. 

In  no  kingdom  of  nature,  therefore,  does  it  seem  less  pos- 
sible to  explain  the  successive  changes  of  organization,  dis- 
closed  by  geology,  without  the  direct  interposition  of  re- 
peated acts  of  Creation.. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Proofs  of  Design  in  the  Fossil  Remains  of  Mollusks.* 
SECTION  I. 

FOSSIL    UNIVALVE    AND    BIVALVE    SHELLS. 

We  are  much  limited  in  our  means  of  obtaining  informa- 
tion as  to  the  anatomical  structure  of  those  numerous  tribes 
of  extinct  animals  which  are  comprehended  under  Cuvier's 
great  division  of  Mollusks.  Their  soft  and  perishable 
bodies  have  almost  wholly  disappeared,  and  their  external. 

*  See  note,  p.  56. 


MOLLUSKS  AND  CONCHIFERS.  225 

shells,  and,  in  a  few  cases,  an  internal  apparatus  of  the 
nature  of  shell,  form  the  only  evidence  of  the  former  exist- 
ence of  the  myriads  of  these  creatures  that  occupied  the 
ancient  waters. 

The  enduring  nature  of  the  calcareous  coverings  which 
these  animals  had  the  power  of  secreting,  has  placed  our 
knowledge  of  Fossil  Shells  almost  on  a  footing  with  that  of 
recent  Conchology.  But  the  plan  of  our  present  inquiry 
forbids  us  here  to  take  more  than  a  general  review  of  the 
history  and  economy  of  the  creatures  by  which  they  were 
constructed. 

We  find  many  and  various  forms,  both  of  Univalve  and 
Bivalve  shells,  mixed  with  numerous  remains  of  Articulated 
and  radiated  animals,  in  the  most  ancient  strata  of  the 
Transition  period  that  contain  any  traces  of  organic  life. 
Many  of  these  shells  agree  so  closely  with  existing  species, 
that  we  may  infer  their  functions  to  have  been  the  same; 
and  that  they  were  inhabited  by  animals  of  form  and  habits 
similar  to  those  which  fabricate  the  living  shells  most  nearly 
resembling  them.* 

All  Turbinated  and  simple  shells  are  constructed  by  Mol- 
lusks  of  a  higher  Order  than  the  Conchifers,  which  construct 
Bivalves  ;  the  former  have  heads  and  eyes ;  the  Conchifers, 
or  constructors  of  bivalves,  are  without  either  of  these  im- 
portant parts,  and  possess  but  a  low  degree  of  any  other 
sense  than  touch,  and  taste.  Thus  the  Mollusk,  which  oc- 
cupies a  Whelk,  or  a  Limpet  shell,  is  an  animal  of  a  higher 
Order  than  the  Conchifer  enclosed  between  the  two  valves 
of  a  Muscle  or  an  Oyster-shell. 

Lamarck  has  divided  his  Order  of  Trachelipodsf  into  two 

*  See  Mr.  Broderip's  Introduction  to  his  Paper  on  some  new  species  of 
Brachiopoda,  Zool.  Trans.,  vol,  I.,  p.   141. 

t  This  name  is  derived  from  the  position  of  the  foot,  or  locomotive 
apparatus,  on  the  lower  surface  of  the  neck,  or  of  the  anterior  part  of  the. 
body.  By  means  of  this  organ  Trachelipods  crawl  like  the  common  gar- 
den snail    (Helix   aspersa.)     This    Helix  offers  also  a  familiar  example  of 


226  TWO  DIVISIONS  OF  TRACHELIPODS. 

great  sections,  viz.  herbivorous  and  carnivorous  ;  the  carni- 
vorous  are  also  divisible  into  two  families  of  different  office,, 
the  one  attacking  and  destroying  living  bodies,  the  other 
eating  dead  bodies  that  have  perished  in  the  course  of  na- 
ture, or  from  accidental  causes ;  after  the  manner  of  those 
species  of  predaceous  beasts  and  birds,  e.  g.  the  Hya3nas  and 
Vultures,  which,  by  preference,  live  on  carrion.  The  same 
principle  of  economy  in  nature,  which  causes  the  dead  car- 
casses of  the  hosts  of  terrestrial  herbivorous  animals  to  be 
accelerated  in  their  decomposition,  by  forming  the  food  of 
numerous  carnivora,  appears  also  to  have  been  apphed  to 
the  submarine  inhabitants  of  the  most  ancient,  as  well  as  of 
the  existing  seas;  thus  converting  the  death  of  one  tribe  into 
the  nutriment  and  support  of  hfe  in  others. 

ft  is  stated  by  Mr.  Dillvvyn,  in  a  paper  read  before  the 
Royal  Society,  June  1823,  that  Pliny  has  remarked  that  the 
animal  which  was  supposed  to  yield  the  Tyrean  die,  obtained 
its  food  by  boring  into  other  shells  by  means  of  an  elon- 
gated tongue ;  and  Lamarck  says,  that  all  those  Mollusks 
whose  shells  have  a  notch  or  canal  at  the  base  of  their  aper- 
ture, are  furnished  with  a  similar  power  of  boring,  by  means 
of  a  retractile  proboscis.*     In  his  arrangement  of  inverte- 

the  manner  in  which  they  have  the  principal  viscera  packed  v^ithin  the  spiral 
shell. 

*  The  proboscis,  by  means  of  which  these  animals  are  enabled  to  drill 
holes  through  shells,  is  armed  with  a  number  of  minute  teeth,  set  like 
the  teeth  of  a  file,  upon  a  retractile  membrane,  which  the  animal  is  en- 
abled to  fix  in  a  position  adapted  for  boring  or  filing  a  hole  from  without, 
through  the  substance  of  shells,  and  tlirough  this  hole  to  extract  and  feed 
upon  the  juices  of  the  body  witliin  them.  A  familiar  example  of  this  or- 
gan may  be  seen  in  the  retractile  proboscis  of  Buccinum  Lapillus,  and 
Buccinum  Undatum,  the  common  whelks  of  our  own  shores.  A  valuable 
Paper  on  this  subject  has  recently  been  published  by  Mr.  Osier  (Phil. 
Trans.,  1832,  Part  2,  P.  497,)  in  which  he  gives  an  engraved  figure  of 
the  tongue  of  the  Buccinum  Undatum,  covered  with  its  rasp,  whereby  it 
perforates  the  shells  of  animals  destined  to  become  its  prey.  Mr.  Osier 
modifies  the  rule  or  the  distinction  between  the  shells  of  carnivora  and 
hcrbivora,  by  showing  that,  although   it    is  true   that  all  heaked  shells  in- 


TURBINATED  UNIVALVES.  227 

l)rate  animals,  they  form  a  section  of  the  TracheUpods,  which 
he  calls  carnivorous.  (Zoophages.)  In  the  other  section  of 
TracheUpods,  which  he  calls  herbivorous  (Phytiphages)  the 
aperture  of  the  shell  is  entire,  and  the  animals  have  jaws 
formed  for  feeding  on  vegetables. 

Mr.  Diilwyn  farther  asserts,  that  every  fossil  Turbinated 
Univalve  of  the  older  beds,  from  the  Transition  lime  to  the 
Lias,  belongs  to  the  herbivorous  genera  ;  and  that  the  herbi- 
vorous class  extends  through  eveiy  stratum  in  the  entire  se- 
ries of  geological  formations,  and  still  retains  its  place  among 
the  inhabitants  of  our  existing  seas.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
shells  of  marine  carnivorous  Univalves  are  very  abundant  in 
the  Tertiary  strata  above  the  Chalk,  but  are  extremely  rare 
in  the  Secondary  strata,  from  the  Chalk  downwards  to  the 
Inferior  oolite ;  beneath  which  no  trace  of  them  has  yet 
been  found. 

Most  collectors  have  seen  upon  the  sea  shore  numbers  of 
dead  shells,  in  which  small  circular  holes  have  been  bored 
by  the  predaceous  tribes,  for  the  purpose  of  feeding  upon 
the  bodies  of  the  animals  contained  within  them ;  similar 
holes  occur  in  many  fossil  shells  of  the  Tertiary  strata, 
wherein  the  shells  of  carnivorous  Trachelipods  also  abound; 
but  perforations  of  this  kind  are  extremely  rare  in  the  fossil 
shells  of  any  older  formation.  In  the  Green-sand  and  Oolite, 
they  have  been  noticed  only  in  those  few  cases  where  they 
are  accompanied  by  the  shells  of  equally  rare  carnivorous 
MoUusks ;  and  in  the  Lias,  and  strata  below  it,  there  are 
neither  perforations,  nor  any  shells  having  the  notched  mouth 
peculiar  to  perforating  carnivorous  species. 

It  should  seem,  from  these  facts,  that  in  the  economy  of 
submarine  life,  the  great  family  of  carnivorous  Trachelipods, 
performed  the  same  necessary  office  during  the  Tertiary 
period,  which  is  alotted  to  them  in  the  present  ocean.     We 

dicate  their  molluscous  inhabitant  to  have  been  carnivorous,  an  entire  aper- 
ture  does  not  always  indicate  a  herbivorous  character. 


228  TESTACEOUS  CEPHALOPODS. 

have  farther  evidence  to  show^,  that  in  times  anterior  to,  and 
during  the  deposition  of  the  Chalk,  the  same  important  func- 
tions v^^ere  consigned  to  other  carnivorous  Mollusks,  viz.  the 
Testaceous  Cephalopods  ;*  these  are  of  comparatively  rare 
occurrence  in  the  Tertiary  strata,  and  in  our  modern  seas ; 
but,  throughout  the  Secondary  and  Transition  formations, 
where  carnivorous  Trachelipods  are  either  w^holly  wanting, 
or  extremely  scarce,  we  find  abundant  remains  of  carnivo- 
rous Cephalopods,  consisting  of  the  chambered  shells  of  Nau- 
tili and  Ammonites,  and  many  kindred  extinct  genera  of 
polythalamous  shells  of  extraordinary  beauty.  The  Mollus- 
cous inhabitants  of  all  these  chambered  shells,  probably  pos- 
sessed the  voracious  habits  of  the  modern  Cuttle  Fish,  and 
by  feeding  like  them  upon  young  Testacea  and  Crustacea, 
restricted  the  excessive  increase  of  animal  life  at  the  bottom 
of  the  more  ancient  seas.  Their  sudden  and  nearly  total 
disappearance  at  the  commencement  of  the  Tertiary  era, 
would  have  caused  a  blank  in  the  "  police  of  nature,"  allow- 
ing the  herbivorous  tribes  to  increase  to  an  excess,  that 
would  ultimately  have  been  destructive  of  marine  vegeta- 
tion, as  well  as  of  themselves,  had  they  not  been  replaced 
by  a  different  order  of  carnivorous  creatures,  destined  to 
perform  in  another  manner,  the  office  which  the  inhabitants 
of  Ammonites  and  various  extinct  genera  of  chambered 
shells  then  ceased  to  discharge.  From  that  time  onwards, 
we  have  evidence  of  the  abundance  of  carnivorous  Trache- 
lipodes,  and  we  see  good  reason  to  adopt  the  conclusion  of 
Mr.  Dillwyn,  that  "  in  the  formations  above  the  Chalk,  the 
vast  and  sudden  decrease  of  one  predaceous  tribe  has  been 
provided  for  by  the  creation  of  many  new  genera,  and 
species,  possessed  of  similar  appetencies,  and  yet  formed  for 
obtaining  their  prey  by  habits  entirely  difterent  from  those 
of  the  Cephalopods. "f 

*  See  explanation  of  the  term  Cephalopod,  in  note  at  p.  230. 

t  Mr.  Dillwyn  observes  farther,  that  all  the  herbivorous  marine  Cepha- 


SPECIFIC  GRAVITY  OF  SHELLS.  229 

The  design  of  the  Creator  seems  at  all  times  to  have  been, 
to  fill  the  waters  of  the  seas,  and  cover  the  surface  of  the 
earth  with  the  greatest  possible  amount  of  organized  beings 
enjoying  life;  and  the  same  expedient  of  adapting  the  vege- 
table kingdom  to  become  the  basis  of  the  life  of  animals, 
and  of  multiplying  largely  the  amount  of  animal  existence 
by  the  addition  of  Carnivora  to  the  Herbivora,  appears  to 
have  prevailed  from  the  first  commencement  of  organic  life 
unto  the  present  hour. 

Mr.  De  la  Beche  has  recently  published  a  list  of  the  spe- 
cific gravities  of  living  shells  of  different  genera,  from  which 
he  shows  that  their  weight  and  strength  are  varied  in  ac- 
commodation to  the  habits  and  habitation  of  the  animals  by 
which  they  are  respectively  constructed;  and  points  out 
evidence  of  design,  such  as  we  discover,  in  all  carefully 
conducted  investigations  of  the  works  of  nature,  whether 
among  the  existing  or  extinct  forms  of  the  animal  creation.* 

lopods  of  the  Transition  and  Secondary  strata  were  furnished  with  an  oper- 
culum, as  if  to  protect  them  against  the  carnivorous  Cephalopods  which 
then  prevailed  abundantly;  but  that  in  the  Tertiary  formations,  numerous 
herbivorous  genera  appear,  which  are  not  furnished  with  opercula,  as  if  no 
longer  requiring  the  protection  of  such  a  shield,  aftei-  the  extinction  of  the 
Ammonites  and  of  many  cognate  genera  of  carnivorous  Trachelipods,  at  the 
termination  of  the  Secondary  period,  i.  e.  after  the  deposition  of  the  Chalk 
formation. 

*  "It  can  scarcely  escape  the  observation  of  the  reader,  that,  vvlille  the 
specific  gravities  of  the  land  shells  enumerated  are  generally  greatest,  the 
densities  of  the  Jloating  marine  shells  are  mucli  the  smallest.  l"he  design 
of  the  difference  is  obvious:  The  land  shells  have  to  contend  with  all 
changes  of  climate,  and  to  resist  the  action  of  the  atmosphere,  while,  at 
the  same  time,  they  are  thin  for  tlie  purpose  of  easy  transport,  their  density 
is  therefore  greatest.  The  Argonaut,  Nautilus,  and  creatures  of  the  like 
habits  require  as  light  shells  as  may  be  consistent  with  the  requisite  strengtii; 
the  relative  specific  gravity  of  such  shells  is  consequently  small.  The 
greatest  observed  density  was  that  of  a  Helix,  the  smallest,  that  of  an  Argo- 
naut. The  shell  of  the  lanthlna,  a  floating  Molluscous  creature,  is  among 
the  smallest  densities.  The  specific  gravity  of  all  the  land  shells  examined 
was  greater  than  that  of  Carara  marble;  in  general  more  approaching  to  Ar- 
ragonite.  The  fresh-water  and  marine  shells,  with  the  exception  of  the 
VOL,  I. — 20 


230  NAKED  MOLLUSKS. 


SECTION  II. 

FOSSJL  REMAINS  OF  NAKED  MOLLUSKS,  PENS,  AND  INK-BAGS  OF 
LOLIGO. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  common  Cuttle  Fish,  and  other 
living  species  of  Cephalopods,*  which  have  no  external 
shell,  are  protected  from  their  enemies  by  a  peculiar  internal 
provision,  consisting  of  a  bladder-shaped  sac,  containing  a 
black  and  viscid  ink,  the  ejection  of  which  defends  them,  by 
rendering  opaque  the  water  in  which  they  thus  become  con- 
cealed. The  most  familiar  examples  of  this  contrivance  are 
found  in  the  Sepia  vulgaris,  and  Loligo  of  our  own  seas. 
(See  PL  28,  Fig.  1.) 

It  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  we  should  find,  amid 
the  petrified  remains  of  animals  of  the  ancient  world,  (re- 
mains which  have  been  buried  for  countless  centuries  in  the 
deep  foundations  of  the  earth,)  traces  of  so  delicate  a  fluid 
as  the  ink  which  was  contained  within  the  bodies  of  extinct 
species  of  Cephalopods,  that  perished  at  periods  so  incalcu- 
lably remote ;  yet  the  preservation  of  this  substance  is  esta- 

Argonaiit,  Nautilus,  lanthina,  Lithodomus,  Haliotis,  and  great  radiated  crys- 
talline Teredo  from  the  East  Indies,  exceeded  Carara  marble  in  density. 
This  marble  and  the  Haliotis  are  of  equal  specific  gravities." — De  la  Beche's 
Geological  Researches,  1834,  p.  76. 

*  The  figure  of  the  common  Calmar,  or  Squid  (Loligo  Vulgaris  Lam. 
— Sepia  loligo  of  Linnjeus,)  see  PI.  28,  Fig.  1,  illustrates  the  origin  of  the 
term  Cephalopod,  a  term  applied  to  a  large  family  of  molluscous  animals, 
from  the  fiict  of  their  feet  being  placed  around  tlieir  heads.  The  feet  are 
lined  internally  with  ranges  of  horny  cups,  or  suckers,  by  which  the  animal 
seizes  on  its  prey,  and  adheres  to  extraneous  bodies.  Tiie  mouth,  in  form 
and  substance  resembles  a  Parrot's  beak,  and  is  surrounded  by  the  feet.  By 
means  of  these  feet  jmd  suckers  the  Sepia  octopus,  or  common  Pouipe  (the 
Polypus  of  the  ancients,)  crawls  with  its  head  downwards,  along  the  bottom 
of  the  sea. 


FOSSIL  INK-BAGS.  231 

blished  beyond  the  possibility  of  doubt,  by  the  recent  disco- 
very of  numerous  specimens  in  the  Lias  of  Lyme  Regis,*  in 
which  the  ink-bags  are  preserved  in  a  fossil  state,  still  dis- 
tended, as  when  they  formed  parts  of  the  organization  of 
living  bodies,  and  retaining  the  same  juxta-position  to  an 
internal  rudimentary  shell  resembling  a  horny  pen,  which 
the  ink-bag  of  the  existing  Loligo  bears  to  the  pen  within 
the  body  of  that  animal.     (PI.  28,  Fig.  1.) 

Having  before  us  the  fact  of  the  preservation  of  this  fossil 
ink,  we  find  a  ready  explanation  of  it,  in  the  indestructible 
nature  of  the  carbon  of  which  it  was  chiefly  composed. 
Cuvier  describes  the  ink  of  the  recent  Cuttle  Fish,  as  being 
a  dense  fluid  of  the  consistence  of  pap,  "  bouillie,"  suspended 
in  the  cells  of  a  thin  net-work  that  pervades  the  interior  of 
the  ink-bag ;  it  very  much  resembles  common  printers'  ink. 
A  substance  of  this  nature  would  readily  be  transferred  to  a 
fossil  state,  without  much  diminution  of  its  bulk.f 

PI.  28,  Fig.  5,  represents  an  ink-bag  of  a  recent  Cuttle 
Fish,  in  which  the  ink  is  preserved  in  a  desiccated  state, 
being  not  much  diminished  from  its  original  volume.  Its 
form  is  similar  to  that  of  many  fossil  ink-bags  (PI.  29,  Figs. 
3 — 10,)  and  the  indurated  ink  within  it  differs  only  from  the 

*  We  owe  this  discovery  to  the  industry  and  skill  of  Miss  Mary  Anning-, 
to  whom  the  scientific  world  is  largely  indebted,  for  having  brought  to 
light  so  many  interesting  remains  of  fossil  Reptiles  from  the  Lias  at  Lyme 
Regis. 

t  So  completely  are  the  character  and  qualities  of  the  ink  retained  in  its 
fossil  state,  that  when,  in  1826,  I  submitted  a  portion  of  it  to  my  friend  Sir 
Francis  Chantrcy,  requesting  him  to  try  its  power  as  a  pigment,  and  he  had 
prepared  a  drawing  with  a  triturated  portion  of  this  fossil  substance;  the 
drawing  was  shown  to  a  celebrated  painter,  without  any  information  as  to 
its  origin,  and  he  immediately  pronounced  it  to  be  tinted  with  sepia  of  excel- 
lent  quality,  and  begged  to  be  informed  by  what  colourman  it  was  prepared. 
The  common  sepia  used  in  drawing  is  from  the  ink-bag  of  an  oriental 
species  of  cuttle-fish.  The  ink  of  the  cuttle-fishes,  in  its  natural  state,  is 
said  to  be  soluble  only  in  water,  through  which  it  diflTuses  itself  instanta. 
neously  ;  being  thus  remarkably  adapted  to  its  peculiar  service  in  the  only 
fluid  wherein  it  is  naturally  employed. 


232  FOSSIL  PENS. 

fossil  ink,  inasmuch  as  the  latter  is  impregnated  with  car- 
bonate of  lime. 

In  a  communication  to  the  Geological  Society,  February 
1829,  I  announced  that  these  fossil  ink-bags  had  been  dis- 
covered in  the  Lias  at  Lyme  Regis,  in  connexion  with 
horny  bodies,  resembling  the  pen  of  a  recent  Loligo. 

These  fossil  pens  are  without  any  trace  of  nacre,  and  are 
composed  of  a  thin,  laminated,  semi-transparent  substance, 
resembUng  horn.  Their  state  of  preservation  is  such  as  to 
admit  of  a  minute  comparison  of  their  internal  structure 
with  that  of  the  pen  of  the  recent  Lohgo ;  and  leads  to  the 
same  result  which  we  have  collected  from  the  examination 
of  so  many  other  examples  of  fossil  organic  remains; 
namely,  that  although  fossil  species  usually  differ  from  their 
living  representatives,  still  the  same  principles  of  construc- 
tion have  prevailed  through  every  cognate  genus,  and  often 
also  through  the  entire  families  under  which  these  genera 
are  comprehended. 

The  petrified  remains  of  fossil  Loligo,  therefore,  add 
another  hnk  to  the  chain  of  argument  which  we  are  pursuing, 
and  aid  us  in  connecting  successive  systems  of  creation 
which  have  followed  each  other  upon  our  Planet,  as  parts  of 
one  grand  and  uniform  Design.  Thus  the  union  of  a  bag 
of  ink  with  an  organ  resembling  a  pen  in  the  recent  Loligo, 
is  a  peculiar  and  striking  association  of  contrivances,  afford- 
ing compensation  for  the  deficiency  of  an  external  shell,  to 
an  animal  much  exposed  to  destruction  from  its  fellow- 
tenants  of  the  deep ;  we  find  a  similar  association  of  the 
same  organs  in  the  petrified  remains  of  extinct  species  of 
the  same  family,  that  are  preserved  in  the  ancient  marl  and 
limestone  strata  of  the  Lias.  Cuvier  drew  his  figures  of  the 
recent  Sepia  with  ink  extracted  from  its  own  body.  I  have 
drawings  of  the  remains  of  extinct  species  prepared  also 
with  their  own  ink :  with  this  fossil  ink  I  might  record  the 
fact,  and  explain  the  causes  of  its  wonderful  preservation. 
I  might  register  the  proofs  of  instantaneous  death  detected 


SUDDEN    INTERMENT    OF    FOSSIL    LOLIGO.  233 

in  these  ink-bags,  for  they  contain  the  fluid  which  the  living 
sepia  emits  in  the  moment  of  alarm  ;  and  might  detail 
farther  evidence  of  their  immediate  burial,  in  the  retention 
of  the  forms  of  these  distended  membranes  (PI.  29,  Figs.  3 
— 10  ;)  since  they  w^ould  speedily  have  decayed,  and  have 
spilt  their  ink,  had  they  been  exposed  but  a  few  hours  to  de- 
composition in  the  water.  The  animals  must  therefore  have 
died  suddenly,  and  been  quickly  buried  in  the  sediment  that 
formed  the  strata,  in  which  their  petrified  ink  and  ink-bags 
are  thus  preserved.  The  preservation  also  of  so  fragile  a 
substance  as  the  pen  of  a  Loligo,  retaining  traces  even  of 
its  minutest  fibres  of  growth,  is  not  much  less  remarkable 
than  the  fossil  condition  of  the  ink-bags,  and  leads  to  similar 
conclusions.* 

We  learn  from  a  recent  German  publication  (Zeiten's 
Versteinerungen  Wiirttembergs.  Stuttgart,  1832,  PI.  25 
and  PL  37,)  that  similar  remains  of  pens  and  ink-bags  are 
of  frequent  occurrence  in  the  Lias  shale  of  x\alen  and  Boll.f 

*  V^c  have  elsewhere  applied  this  line  of  argument  to  prove  the  sudden 
destruction  and  burial  of  the  Saurians,  whose  skeletons  we  find  entire  in  the 
same  Lias  that  contains  the  pens  and  ink-bags  of  Loligo.  On  the  other 
liand,  wc  have  proofs  of  intervals  between  the  depositions  of  the  component 
strata  of  the  Lids,  in  tlio  fact,  that  many  beds  of  this  formation  have  become 
the  repository  of  CoproHtes,  dispersed  singly  and  irregularly  at  intervals  far 
distant  from  one  another,  and  at  a  distance  from  any  entire  skeletons,  of  the 
Saurians,  from  which  tiiey  were  derived  ;  and  in  the  farther  fact,  that  those 
surfaces  only  of  the  Coprolites,  which  lay  vppcrmost  at  the  [bottom  of  the 
sea,  have  often  suffered  partial  destruction  from  the  action  of  water  before 
they  were  covered  and  protected  by  tlie  muddy  sediment  that  has  afterwards 
permanently  enveloped  them.  Farther  proof  of  the  duration  of  time,  during 
t!:c  intervals  of  the  deposition  of  tlie  Lias,  is  found  in  the  innumerable 
multitudes  of  the  shells  of  various  Mollusks  and  Conchifers  which  had 
time  to  arrive  at  maturity,  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  during  the  quiescent 
periods  which  intervened  between  the  muddy  invasions  that  destroyed,  and 
buried  suddenly  the  creatures  inhabiting  the  waters,  at  the  time  and  place 
of  their  arrival. 

t  As  far  as  we  can  judge  from  the  delineations  and  lines  of  the  struc- 
ture  in  Zeiten'd  plate,  our   species  from   Lyme  Regis  is    the   same  \vi:h 

20* 


234 


STRUCTURE    OF  FOSSIL    PENS. 


Hence  it  is  clear  that  the  same  causes  which  produced 
these  effects  during  the  deposition  of  the  Lias  at  Lyme 
Regis,  produced  similar  and  nearly  contemporaneous  effects, 
in  that  part  of  Germany  which  presents  such  identity  in  the 
character  and  circumstances  of  these  delicate  organic  re- 
mains.* 

Paley  has  beautifully,  and  with  his  usual   felicity,  de- 

that  which  he  has  designated  by  the  name  of  Loligo  Aalencis  ;  but  I  have 
yet  seen  no  structure  in  English  specimens  like  that  of  his  Loligo  Bol- 
lensis. 

*  Although  the  resemblance  between  the  pens  of  the  Loligo  and  a  fea- 
ther (as  might  be  expected  from  the  very  different  uses  to  which  they  are 
applied)  does  not  extend  to  their  internal  structure,  we  may  still,  for  con- 
venience of  description,  consider  them  as  composed  of  the  three  follow- 
jng  parts,  which,  in  all  our  figures,  will  be  designated  by  the  same  letters, 
A.  B.  C.  First,  the  external  filaments  of  the  plume,  (PI.  28,  29,  30,  A.) 
analogous  to  those  of  a  common  feather.  These  filaments  terminate  in- 
wards on  a  straight  line,  or  base,  where  they  usually  form  an  acute  angle 
with  the  outer  edges  of  the  marginal  bands.  Secondly,  two  marginal 
bands,  B.  B.,  dividing  the  base  of  tiic  filam.ents  from  the  body  of  the  shaft' 
the  surface  of  these  bands,  B.,  usually  exhibits  angular  lines  of  growth  in 
the  smaller  fossil  pens  (PI.  28,  Fig.  6,  and  Fl.  29,  Fig.  2,)  which  become 
obtuse  and  vanish  into  broad  cur.ves,  in  larger  specimens,  PI.  29,  Fig.  I, 
and  PI.  30.  Thirdly,  the  broad  shaft,  which  forms  the  middle  of  the  pen, 
is  divided  longitudinally  into  two  equal  parts  by  a  straight  line,  or  axis 
C.  :  it  is  made  up  of  a  number  of  thin  plates,  of  a  horn-like  substance, 
laid  on  each  other,  like  thin  slieets  of  paper  in  pasteboard  ;  these  thin 
plates  are  composed  alternately,  of  longitudinal,  and  transverse  fibres . 
the  former  (Pi.  28,  Fig.  7.  f.  f.)  straight,  and  nearly  parallel  to  the  axis 
of  the  shaft,  the  latter  (P!.  28,  Fig.  7,  e.  e.)  crossing  the  shaft  trans- 
versely in  a  succession  of  synmielrical  and  undulating  curves.  These 
transverse  fibres  do  not  interlace  the  others,  as  the  woof  interlaces  the 
weaver's  warp,  but  are  simply  laid  over,  and  adhering  to  them,  as  in  the 
alternate  laminae  of  paper  made  from  slices  of  papyrus  ;  the  strength  of 
such  paper  much  exceeds  that  made  from  flax  or  cotton,  in  which  tiic 
fibres  are  disposed  irregularly  in  all  directions.  The  fibres  of  both  kinds 
are  also  collected  at  intervals  into  fluted  fisciculi,  PI.  30,  f,  and  c,  form- 
ing a  succession  of  grooves  and  ridges  fitted  one  into  another,  whereby 
the  entire  surface  of  each  plate  is  locked  into  the  surface  of  the  adja- 
cent plate,  in  a  manner  admirably  calculated  to  combine  elasticity  with 
strength. 


PROOFS  OF  DESIGN.  235 

scribed  the  Unity  and  Universality  of  Providential  care,  as 
extending  from  the  construction  of  a  ring  of  two  hundred 
thousand  miles  diameter,  to  surround  the  body  of  Saturn, 
and  be  suspended,  like  a  magnificent  arch,  above  the  heads 
of  his  inhabitants,  to  the  concerting  and  providing  an  ap- 
propriate mechanism  for  the  clasping  and  reclasping  of 
the  filaments  in  the  feather  of  the  Humming-bird.  The 
geologist  descries  a  no  less  striking  assemblage  of  curious 
provisions,  and  delicate  mechanisms,  extending  from  the 
entire  circumference  of  the  crust  of  our  planet,  to  the  mi- 
nutest curl  of  the  smallest  fibre  in  each  component  lamina 
of  the  pen  of  the  fossil  Loligo.  He  finds  these  pens  uni- 
formly associated  with  the  same  pecuhar  defensive  provi- 
sion of  an  internal  ink-b^ig,.  which  is  similarly  associated 
with  the  pen  of  the  living  Loligo  in  our  actual  seas ;  and 
hence  he  concludes,  that  such  a  union  of  contrivances,  so 
nicely  adjusted  to  the  wants  and  weaknesses  of  the  crea- 
tures in  which  they  occur,  could  never  have  resulted  from 
the  bUndness  of  chance,  but  could  only  have  originated  in 
the  will  and  intention  of  the  Creator. 


SECTION  III. 

Proofs  of  Design  in  the  Mechanism  of  Fossil   Chambered 

Shells. 

NAUTILUS. 

I  SHALL  select  from  the  family  of  Multilocular,  or  Cham- 
bered shells,  the  few  examples  which  I  shall  introduce  from 
mineral  conchology,  with  a  view  of  illustrating  certain 
points  that  have  relation  to  the  object  of  the  present- 
Treatise. 

I  select  these,  first,  because   they  afford  proofs  of  me- 


236  TROOFS  OP  DESIGN. 

chanical  contrivances,  more  obviously  adapted  to  a  definite 
purpose,  than  can  be  found  in  shells  of  simpler  character. 
Secondly,  because  the  use  of  many  of  their  parts  can  be 
explained,  by  reference  to  the  economy  and  organization  of 
the  existing  animals,  most  nearly  allied  to  the  extinct  fossil 
genera  and  species  with  which  we  are  concerned.  And, 
thirdly,  because  many  of  these  chambered  shells  can  be 
shown,  not  merely  to  have  performed  the  office  of  ordinary 
shells,  as  a  defence  for  the  body  of  their  inhabitants ;  but 
also  to  have  been  hydraulic  instruments  of  nice  operation, 
and  delicate  adjustment,  constructed  to  act  in  subordination- 
to  those  universal  and  unchanging  Laws,  which  appear  to 
have  ever  regulated  the  movement  of  fluids. 

The  history  of  Chambered  shells  illustrates  also  some  of 
those  phenomena  of  fossil  conchology,  which  relate  to  the 
Hmitation  of  species  to  particular  geological  Formations;* 
and  affords  striking  proofs  of  the  curious  fact,  that  many 
genera,  and  even  whole  families,  have  been  called  into  ex- 
istence, and  again  totally  annihilated,  at  various  and  suc- 
cessive periods,  during  the  progress  of  the  construction  of 
the  crust  of  our  globe. 

The  history  of  Chambered  Shells  tends  farther  to  throw 
light  upon  a  point  of  importance  in  physiology,  and  shows- 
that  it  is  not  always  by  a  regular  gradation  from  lower  to 
hiofher  degrees  of  organization,  that  the  progress  of  life 
has  advanced,  during  the  early  epochs  of  which  geology 
takes  cognizance.  We  find  that  many  of  tlie  more  simple 
forms  have  m.aintained  their  primeval  simplicity  through 
all  the  varied  changes  the  surface  of  the  earth  has  under- 
gone :  whilst,  in  other  cases,  organizations  of  a  higher  order 
preceded  many  of  the  lower  forms  of  animal  life;  some  of 

*  Thus,  the  Nautilus  multicarinatus  is  limited  to  strata  of  tlie  Transition 
formation  ;  the  N.  bidorsatus  to  the  Musclielkalk  ;  N.  obesus,  and  N.  linea- 
tus,  to  the  Oolite  Formation  ;  N.  elcgans,  and  N.  undulatus,  to  the  Chalk.. 
The  divisions  of  the  Tertiary  formations  have  also  species  of  Nautili  pccu» 
liar  to  themselves. 


FOSSIL  SHELLS  ILLUSTRATED  BY  RECENT  237 

the  latter  appearing,  for  the  first  time,  after  the  total  anni- 
hilation of  many  species  and  genera  of  a  more  complex 
character.* 

The  prodigious  number,  variety,  and  beauty,  of  extinct 
Chambered  shells,  which  prevail  throughout  the  Transition 
and  Secondary  strata,  render  it  imperative  that  we  should 
seek  for  evidence  in  living  nature,  of  the  character  and  habits 
of  the  creatures  by  which  they  were  formed,  and  of  the 
office  they  held  in  the  ancient  economy  of  the  animal  world. 
Such  evidence  we  may  expect  to  find  in  those  inhabitants  of 
the  present  sea,  whose  shells  most  nearly  resemble  the  ex- 
tinct fossils  under  consideration,  namely,  in  the  existing  Nau- 
tilus Pompilius,  (See  PI.  31,  Fig.  1,)  and  Spirula,  (PI.  44. 
Figs.  1,  2.t) 

*  The  multiplication,  in  the  Tertiary  periods,  of  a  class  of  animals  of  lower 
organization,  viz.  the  carnivorous  Tracheiipods,  (See  Chap.  XV.  Section  1,) 
to  fill  the  place  which,  during  the  Secondary  periods,  had  been  occupied  by 
a  higher  order,  namely,  the  carnivorous  Cephalopods,  affords  an  example  of 
Retrocession  which  seems  fatal  to  that  doctrine  of  regular  Progression, 
which  is  most  insisted  on  by  those  who  are  unwilling  to  admit  the  repeated 
interferences  of  Creative  power,  in  adjusting  the  successive  changes  that 
animal  life  has  undergone. 

It  will  appear,  on  examination  of  the  shells  of  fossil  Nautili,  that  they  have 
retained  through  strata  of  all  ages,  their  aboriginal  simplicity  of  structure, 
a  structure  which  remains  fundamentally  the  same  ia  the  Nautilus  Pompilius 
of  our  existing  seas,  as  it  was  in  the  earliest  fossil  species  that  we  find  in  the 
Transition  strata.  Mean  time  the  cognate  family  of  Ammonites,  whose 
shells  were  more  elaborately  constructed  than  those  of  ^Nautili,  commenced 
their  existence  at  the  same  early  period  with  them  in  the  Transition  strata, 
and  became  extinct  at  the  termination  of  the  Secondary  formations.  Other 
examples  of  later  creations  of  genera  and  species,  followed  by  their  periodi. 
cal  and  total  extinction,  before,  or  at  the  same  time  with  the  cessation  of  the 
Ammonites,  are  afforded  by  those  cognate  Multilocular  shells,  namely,  the 
Hamite,  Turrilitc,  Scaphite,  Baculite,  and  Belemnite,  respecting  each  of 
which  I  shall  presently  notice  a  few  particulars. 

t  I  omit  to  mention  the  mope  familiar  shell  of  the  Argonaula  or  Paper 
Nautilus,  because,  not  being  a  chambered  species,  it  does  not  apply  so 
directly  to  my  present  sabject;  and  also,  because  doubts  still  exist  whe- 


238  EXTENT  OF  THE  GENUS  NAUTILUS. 

I  must  enter  at  some  length  into  the  natural  history  of 
these  shells,  because  the  conclusions  to  which  I  have  been 
led,  by  a  long  and  careful  investigation  of  fossil  species,  are 
at  variance  with  those  of  Cuvier  and  Lamarck,  as  to  the 
fact  of  Ammonites  being  external  shells,  and  also  with  the 
prevailing  opinions  as  to  the  action  of  the  siphon  and  air 
chambers,  both  in  Ammonites  and  Nautili. 

Mechanical  Contrivances  in  the  JVautilus. 

The  Nautilus  not  only  exists  at  present  in  our  tropical 
seas,  but  is  one  of  those  genera  which  occur  in  a  fossil  state 
in  formations  of  every  age ;  and  the  molluscous  inhabitants 
of  these  shells,  having  been  among  the  earliest  occupants 
of  the  ancient  deep,  have  maintained  their  place  through  all 
the  changes  that  the  tenants  of  the  ocean  have  undergone. 

The  recent  publication  of  Mr.  R.  Owen's  excellent  Me- 
moir on  the  Pearly  Nautilus,  (Nautilus  PompiUus  Lin.)  1832, 
affords  the  first  scientific  description  ever  given  of  the  ani- 
mal by  which  this  long-known  shell  is  constructed.*  This 
Memoir  is  therefore  of  high  importance,  in  its  relation  to 

ther  the  Sepia  found  within  this  shell  be  really  the  constructor  of  it,  or  a 
parasitic  intruder  into  a  shell  formed  by  some  other  animal  not  yet  discovered. 
Mr.  Broderip,  Mr.  Gray,  and  Mr.  G.  Sowerby,  are  of  opinion,  that  this  shell 
is  constructed  by  an  animal  allied  to  Carinaria. 

*  It  is  a  curious  fact,  that  although  the  shells  of  the  Nautilus  have  been 
familiar  to  naturalists,  from  the  days  of  Aristotle,  and  abound  in  every  col- 
lection, the  only  authentic  account  of  the  animals  inhabiting  them,  is  that  by 
Rumphius,  in  his  history  of  Amboyna,  accompanied  by  an  engraving, 
which  though  tolerably  correct,  as  far  as  it  goes,  is  yet  so  deficient  in  detail 
that  it  is  impossible  to  learn  any  thing'  from  it  respecting  the  internal  organ- 
ization of  the  animal. 

I  rejoice  in  the  present  opportunity  of  bearing  testimony  to  the  value  of 
Mr.  Owen's  higiily  philosophical  and  most  admirable  memoir  upon  tiiis  sub- 
ject; a  work  not  less  creditable  to  the  author,  than  honourable  to  the  Royal 
College  of  Surgeons,  under  v.'hose  auspices  this  publication  has  been  sa 
handsomely  conducted. 


NAUTILUS  POMPILIUS.  239 

geology;  for  it  enables  us  to  assert,  with  a  confidence  we 
could  not  otherwise  have  assumed,  that  the  animals  by  which 
all  fossil  Nautili  were  constructed,  belonged  to  the  existing 
family  of  Cephalopodous  Mollusks,  allied  to  the  common 
Cuttle  Fish.  It  leads  us  farther  to  infer,  that  the  infinitely 
more  numerous  species  of  the  family  of  Ammonites,  and 
other  cognate  genera  of  Multilocular  shells,  were  also  con- 
structed by  animals,  in  whose  economy  they  held  an  office 
analogous  to  that  of  the  existing  shell  of  the  Nautilus  Pompi- 
lius.  We  therefore  entirely  concur  with  Mr,  Owen,  that 
not  only  is  the  acquisition  of  this  species  peculiarly  accepta- 
ble, from  its  relation  to  the  Cephalopods  of  the  present  crea- 
tion; but  that  it  is,  at  the  same  time,  the  living  type  of  a  vast 
tribe  of  organized  beings,  whose  fossihzed  remains  testify 
their  existence  at  a  remote  period,  and  in  another  order  of 
things.* 

By  the  help  of  this  living  example,  we  are  prepared  to 
investigate  the  question  of  the  uses,  to  which  all  fossil  Cham- 
bered shells  may  have  been  subservient,  and  to  show  the 
existence  of  design  and  order  in  the  mechanism,  whereby  they 
were  appropriated  to  a  peculiar  and  important  function,  in 

*  A  farther  important  light  is  thrown  upon  those  species  of  fossil  Multi- 
locular shells,  e.  g.  Orthoceratites,  Baculites,  Hamites,  Scaphites,  Belem- 
nites,  &c.  (See  PI.  44,)  in  which  the  last,  or  external  chamber,  seems  to 
have  been  too  small  to  contain  the  entire  body  of  the  animals  that  formed 
llieni,  by  Peron's  discovery  of  the  well-known  chambered  shell,  the  Spirula, 
partially  enclosed  within  the  posterior  extremity  of  the  body  of  a  Sepia  (PI. 
44,  Fig's.  1,  2.1  Although  some  doubts  have  existed  respecting  the  authen- 
ticity of  this  specimen,  in  consequence  of  a  discrepance  between  two  draw- 
ings professedly  taken  from  it  (the  one  published  in  the  Encyclopedia 
Methodique,  the  other  in  Peron's  Voyage,)  and  from  the  loss  of  the  speci- 
men itself  before  any  anatomical  examination  of  it  had  been  made,  the  sub- 
sequent discovery  by  Captain  King  of  the  same  shell,  attached  to  a  portion 
of  the  mutilated  body  of  some  undescribed  Cephalopod  allied  to  the  Sepia, 
leaves  little  doubt  of  the  fact  that  the  Spirula  was  an  internal  shell,  having 
its  dorsal  margin  only  exposed,  after  the  manner  represented  in  both  the 
drawings  from  the  specimen  of  Peron.     (See  PI.  44,  Fig.  ].) 


240  FOSSIL  CHAMBERED  SHELLS, 

the  economy  of  millions  of  creatures  long  since  swept  from 
the  face  of  the  living  world.  From  the  similarity  of  these 
mechanisms  to  those  still  employed  in  animals  of  the  exist- 
ing creation,  we  see  that  all  such  contrivances  and  adapta- 
tions, however  remotely  separated  by  time  or  space,  indicate 
a  common  origin  in  the  will  and  design  of  one  and  the  same 
Intelligence. 

We  enter  then  upon  our  examination  of  the  structure  and 
uses  of  fossil  Chambered  shells,  with  a  prehminary  know- 
ledge of  the  facts,  that  the  recent  shells,  both  of  N.  Pompi- 
lius  and  Spirula,  are  formed  by  existing  Cephalopods;  and 
we  hope,  through  them,  to  be  enabled  to  illustrate  the  his- 
tory of  the  countless  myriads  of  similarly  constructed  fossil 
shells  whose  use  and  office  has  never  yet  been  satisfactorily 
explained. 

We  may  divide  these  fossils  into  two  distinct  classes;  the 
one  comprising  external  shells,  whose  inhabitants  resided 
like  the  inhabitant  of  the  N.  Pompilius,  in  the  capacious 
cavity  of  their  first  or  external  chamber  (PI.  31,  Fig.  1 ;)  the 
other,  comprising  shells,  that  were  wholly  or  partially 
included  within  the  body  of  a  Cephalopod,  like  the  recent 
spirula,  (PL  44,  Figs.  1,  2.)  In  both  these  classes,  the 
chambers  of  the  shell  appear  to  have  performed  the  office  of 
air  vessels,  or  floats,  by  means  of  which  the  animal  was 
enabled  either  to  raise  itself  and  float  on  the  surface  of  the 
sea,  or  sink  to  the  bottom. 

It  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  PI.  31,  Fig.  1,*  that  in  the 
recent  Nautilus  Pompilius,  the  only  organ  connecting  the  air 
chambers,  with  the  body  of  the  animal,  is  a  pipe,  or  siphun- 
cle,  which  descends  through  an  aperture  and  short  project- 
ing tube  (y)  in  each  successive  transverse  plate,  till  it  ter- 

*  The  animal  is  copied  from  PI.  1,  of  Mr.  Owen's  Memoir;  the  shell 
from  a  specimen  in  the  splendid  and  unique  collection  of  my  friend  W. 
J.  Broderip,  Esq.,  by  whose  unreserved  communications  of  his  accurate 
and  extensive  knowledge  in  Natural  History,  I  have  been  long  and  largely 
benefited. 


ILLtrSTRATED  BY  NAUTILUS  POMPILIUS.  241 

minates  in  the  smallest  chamber  at  the  inner  extremity  of  the 
"shell.  I  shall  presently  attempt  to  show  how  by  means  of  a 
pecuHar  fluid,  admitted  into  or  abstracted  from  this  pipe,  the 
animal  has  the  the  power  to  increase  or  diminish  its  specific 
gravity,  and  to  sink  or  float  accordingly;  as  the  floating 
portion  of  that  beautiful  toy  the  Water  balloon  is  made  to 
descend  or  ascend  by  means  of  water  forced  into,  or  ab- 
stracted from  its  interior.     (See  P.  248.) 

The  motion  of  the  Nautilus,  when  swimming,  with  its  arms 
expanded,  is  retrograde,  like  that  of  the  naked  Cuttle  Fish, 
being  produced  by  the  reaction  of  water,  violently  ejected 
from  the  funnel  (k.) 

The  position  assumed  during  this  operation  is  that  which 
is  best  adapted  to  facilitate  its  passage  through  the  water, 
as  it  places  foremost  that  portion  of  the  shell,  which  ap- 
proaches most  nearly  in  form  to  the  prow  of  a  boat.  The 
fingers  and  tentacula  (p,  p,)  are  here  represented  as  closed 
around  the  beak,  which  is  consequently  invisible;  when  the 
animal  is  in  action,  they  are  probably  spread  forth  like  the 
expanded  rays  of  the  sea  Anemone. 

The  horny  beak  of  this  recent  Nautilus  (See  PI.  31,  Fig. 
2,  3)  resembles  the  bill  of  a  Parrot.  Each  mandible  is 
armed  in  front,  with  a  hard  and  indented  calcareous  point, 
adapted  to  the  office  of  crushing  shells  and  crustaceous  ani- 
mals, of  which  latter,  many  fragments  were  found  in  the 
stomach  of  the  individual  here  represented.  As  these  be- 
longed to  species  of  hairy  brachyurous  Crustacea,  that  live 
exclusively  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  they  show  that  this 
Nautilus,  though  occasionally  foraging  at  the  surface,  ob- 
tains part  of  its  food  from  the  bottom.  As  it  also  had  a  giz- 
zard, much  resembling  that  of  a  fowl,  we  see  in  this  organ, 
farther  evidence  that  the  existing  Nautilus  has  the  power  of 
digesting  hard  shells.* 

•  In  Pl.  31,  Fig.  3  represents  the  lower  mandible,  armed  in  front  like 
Fig.  2.  with  a  hard  and  calcareous  margin;  and  Fig.  4  represents  the  anterior 
calcareous  part  of  the  palate  of  the  «pper  mandible  Fig.  2.  formed  of  the 

VOL.  I. — 21 


242  USE  OF  CHAMBERED  SHELLS. 

A  similar  apparatus  is  shown  to  have  existed  in  the  beaks 
of  the  inhabitants  of  many  species  of  fossil  Nautili,  and  Am- 
monites, by  the  abundance  of  fossil  bodies  called  Rhyn- 
cholites,  or  beak-stones,  in  many  strata  that  contain  these 
fossil  shells,  e.  g.  in  the  Oolite  of  Stonesfield,  in  the  Lias  at 
Lyme  Regis  and  Bath,  and  in  the  Muschelkalk  at  Lune- 
ville. 

As  we  are  warranted  in  drawing  conclusions  from  the 
structure  of  the  teeth  in  quadrupeds,  and  of  the  beak  in  birds, 
as  to  the  nature  of  the  food  on  which  they  are  respectively 
destined  to  feed,  so  we  may  conclude,  from  the  resemblance 
of  the  fossil  beaks,  or  Rhyncholites,  (PL  31,  Fig.  5 — 11,)  to 
the  calcareous  portions  of  the  beak  of  the  Cephalopod,  inha- 
biting the  N.  Pompilius,  that  many  of  these  Rhyncolites 
were  the  beaks  of  the  cephalopodous  inhabitants  of  the  fossil 
shells  with  which  they  are  associated;  and  that  these  Cepha- 
lopods  performed  the  same  office  in  restraining  excessive  in- 
crease among  the  Crustaceous  and  Testaceous  inhabitants 
of  the  bottom  of  the  Transition  and  Secondary  seas,  that  is 
now  discharged  by  the  living  Nautih,  in  conjunction  with 
the  carnivorous  Trachelipods.* 

Assuming,  therefoi'e,  on  the  evidence  of  these  analogies, 
that  the  inhabitants  of  the  shells  of  the  fossil  NautiU  and 
Ammonites  were  Cephalopods,  of  similar  habits  to  those  of 
the  animal  which  constructs  the  shell  of  the  N.  Pompilius, 
we  shall  next  endeavour  to  illustrate,  by  the  organization 
and  habits  of  the  living  Nautilus,  the  manner  in  which  these 
fossil  shells  were  adapted  to  the  use  of  creatures,  that  some- 
same  hard  calcareous  substance  at  its  point;  this  substance  is  of  the  nature 
of  shell. 

These  calcarcous'extremities  of  both  mandibles  are  of  sufficient  strength  to 
break  through  the  coverings  of  Crustacea  and  slielis,  and  as  they  are  placed 
at  the  extremity  of  a  beak  composed  of  thin  and  tough  horn,  tlie  power  of 
this  organ  is  thereby  materially  increased. 

In  examining  the  contents  of  the  stomach  of  the  Sepia  vulgaris,  and  Lo- 
ligo,  I  have  found  Ihem  to  contain  numerous  shells  of  small  Conchifera. 

*  See  p.  192. 


CHAMBERS  OF  NAUTILUS.  243 

times  moved  and  fed  at  the  bottom  of  deep  seas,  and  at  other 
times  rose  and  floated  upon  the  surface. 

Tlie  NautiU  (see  PI.  31.  Fig.  1.  and  PI.  32.  Figs.  1.  2.) 
constitute  a  natural  genus  of  spiral  discoidal  shells,  divided 
internally  into  a  series  of  chambers  that  are  separated  from 
each  other  by  transverse  plates ;  these  plates  are  perfo- 
rated to  admit  the  passage  of  a  membranous  tube  or  siphuncle 
either  through  their  centre,  or  near  their  internal  margin. 
(PI.  1.  Fig.  31.  PI.  32.  Fig.  2.  and  PI.  33.) 

The  external  open  chamber  is  very  large,  and  forms  the 
receptable  of  the  body  of  the  animal.  The  internal  close 
chambers  contain  only  air,  and  have  no  communication  with 
the  outer  chamber,  excepting  by  one  small  aperture  in  each 
plate  for  the  passage  of  a  membranous  tube,  which  descends 
through  the  entire  series  of  plates  to  the  innermost  extremity 
of  the  shell,  (PI.  31,  y.  y.  a.  b.  c.  d.  e.  and  PI.  32,  a.  b.  d.  e.  f.) 
These  air-chambers  are  destined  to  counterbalance  the  weight 
of  the  shell,  and  thereby  to  render  the  body  and  shell  together 
so  nearly  of  the  weight  of  water,  that  the  difference  arising 
from  the  siphuncle  being  either  empty,  or  filled  with  a  fluid, 
may  cause  the  animal  to  swim  or  sink.* 

*  The  siphuncle  represented  in  PI.  31,  Fig.  1,  illustrates  the  structure  and 
uses  of  that  organ  ;  in  the  smallest  whorls,  from  d.  inwards,  it  is  enclosed 
by  a  thin  calcareous  covering,  or  sheath,  of  so  soft  a  nature  as  to  be  readily 
scraped  off  by  the  point  of  a  quill;  this  sheath  may  admit  of  expansion  or 
contraction,  together  with  the  membranous  tube  enclosed  within  it.  In  the 
fossil  Nautili,  a  similar  calcareous  sheath  is  often  preserved,  as  in  PI.  32, 
Figs.  2,  3,  and  PI.  33,  and  forms  a  cormected  series  of  tubes  of  carbonate 
of  lime,  closely  fitted  to  the  collar  of  each  transverse  plate.  In  four  cham- 
bers of  the  recent  shell  (PI,  31,  Fig.  1,  a.  b,  c.  d.)  this  sheath  is  partially 
removed  from  the  desiccated  membranous  pipe  within  it,  which  has  assumed 
the  condition  of  a  black  elastic  substance,  resembling  the  black  continuous 
siphuncular  pipe  that  is  frequently  preserved  in  a  carbonaceous  state  in  fossil 
Ammonites, 

At  that  part  of  each  transverse  plate,  which  is  perforated  for  the  pas- 
sage of  the  siphuncle,  (PI.  31,  Fig,  1,  y,  y.,)  a  portion  of  its  shelly  mat- 
ter projects  inwards  to  about  one-fourth  of  the  distance  across  each  cham- 


244  FORTIFICATION  OF  CHAMBERS. 

As  neither  the  siphuncle,  nor  the  external  shell  have  any 
kind  of  aperture  through  which  a  fluid  could  pass  into  the 
close  chambers,*  it  follows  that  these  chambers  contain  no- 
thing more  than  air,  and  must  consequently  be  exposed  to 
great  pressure  when  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  Several  con- 
trivances are  therefore  introduced  to  fortify  them  against 
this  pressure. 

First,  the  circumference  of  the  external  shell,  is  constructed 
every  way  upon  the  principles  of  an  Arch,  (see  PI.  31,  Fig. 
1,  and  PI.  32,  Fig.  1.,)  so  as  to  offer  in  all  directions  the 
greatest  resistance  to  any  pressure  that  tends  to  force  it 
inwards. 

Secondly,  this  arch  is  farther  fortified  by  the  addition  of 
numerous  minute  Ribs,  which  are  beautifully  marked  in  the 
fossil  specimens  represented  at  PI.  32,  Fig.  1.  In  this  fossil 
the  external  shell  exhibits  fine  wavy  lines  of  growth,  which, 
though  individually  small    and    feeble,  are  collectively  of 

ber,  and  forms  a  collar,  around  Uie  membranous  pipe,  thus,  directing'  its  pas- 
sajre  through  tlie  transverse  plates,  and  also  affording  to  it,  wlien  dis. 
tended  with  fluid,  a  strong  support  at  each  collar.  A  similar  projecting 
collar  is  seen  in  the  transverse  plate  of  a  fossil  Nautilus.  (PL32,  Fig,  2, 
e,  and  Fig.  3,  e,  i.  and  PI.  33.)  A  succession  of  such  supports  placed  at 
short  intervals  from  one  another,  divides  this  long  and  thin  membranace- 
ous tube,  when  distended,  into  a  series  of  short  compartments,  or  small 
oval  sacs,  each  sac  communicating  with  tiie  adjacent  sacs  by  a  contracted 
aperture  or  neck  at  both  its  ends,  and  being  firmly  supported  around  this 
neck  by  the  collar  of  each  transverse  plate.  (See  PI.  32,  Figs.  2,  3,  and  PL 
33.) 

The  strength  of  each  sac  is  thus  increased  by  the  shortness  of  the  dis- 
tance between  its  two  extremities,  and  tiie  entire  pipe,  thus  subdivided  into 
thirty  or  forty  distinct  compartments,  derives  from  every  subdivision  an  ac- 
cession of  power  to  sustain  the  pressure  of  any  fluid  that  may  be  introduced 
to  its  interior. 

*  We  learn  from  Mr.  Owen,  that  there  was  no  possibility  of  tlie  access  of 
water  to  the  air  chambers  between  the  exterior  of  the  siphuncle  and  the 
siphonic  aj)crturcs  of  the  transverse  plates;  because  flic  entire  circumference 
of  the  mantle  in  which  the  sipiiuncle  oriirinales,  is  firmly  attached  to  tlie 
shell  by  a  horny  girdle,  inipenctrable  by  any  fluid. — Memoir  on  Nautilus 
Pompiliiis,  p.  47. 


ADDITION    OF    CHAMBERS.  245 

much  avail  as  ribs  to  increase  the  aggregate  amount  of 
strength.     (See  PI.  32,  Fig  1.  a.  to  b.) 

Thirdly,  the  arch  is  rendered  still  stronger  by  the  disposition 
of  the  edges  of  the  internal  Transverse  -plates,  nearly  at  right 
angles  to  the  sides  of  the  external  shell,  (See  PI.  32,  Fig.  1, 
b.  to  c.)  The  course  of  the  edges  of  these  transverse  plates 
beneath  the  ribs  of  the  outer  shell  is  so  directed,  that  they 
act  as  cross  braces,  or  spanners,  to  fortify  the  sides  of  the 
shell  against  the  inward  pressure  of  deep  water.  This  con- 
trivance is  analogous  to  that  adopted  in  fortifying  a  ship  for 
voyages  in  the  Arctic  Seas,  against  the  pressure  of  ice-bergs, 
by  the  introduction  of  an  extraordinary  number  of  trans- 
verse beams  and  bulk  heads.* 

We  may  next  notice  a  fourth  contrivance  by  which  the 
apparatus  that  gives  the  shell  its  power  of  floating,  is  pro- 
gi'essively  enlarged  in  due  proportion  to  the  increasing 
weight  and  bulk  of  the  body  of  the  animal,  and  of  the  ex- 
ternal chamber  in  which  it  resides ;  this  is  eflected  by  suc- 
cessive additions  of  new  transverse  Plates  across  the  bot- 
tom of  the  outer  chamber,  thus  converting  into  a'lr-ch ambers 
that  part  of  the  shell,  which  had  become  too  small  to  hold  the 
body.     This  operation,  repeated  at  intervals  in  due  propor- 

*  The  disposition  of  the  curvatures  of  the  transverse  ribs,  or  lines  of 
growth,  in  a  different  direction  from  the  curvatures  of  the  internal  transverse 
plates,  affords  an  example  of  farther  contrivance  for  producing  strength  in 
the  shells  both  of  recent  and  fossil  Nautili.  As  the  internal  transverse  plates 
are  convex  inwards,  (see  PI.  32,  Fig-.  1,  b.  to  c.)  whilst  the  ribs  of  the  outer 
shell  are  in  the  greater  part  of  their  course  convex  outwards,  these  ribs  in- 
tersect  the  curved  edges  of  the  transverse  plates  at  many  points,  and  thus 
divide  tiieni  into  a  series  of  curvilinear  parallelograms ;  the  two  shorter 
sides  of  each  parallelogram  being  formed  by  the  edges  of  transverse  plates, 
whilst  its  two  longer  sides  are  formed  by  segments  of  the  external  ribs. 
The  same  principle  of  construction  here  represented  in  our  plate  of  Nautilus 
hexagonus,  extends  to  other  species  of  the  family  of  Nautilus,  in  many  of 
which  the  ribs  are  more  minute;  it  is  also  applied  in  other  families  of  fossil 
ehambered  shells;  e.  g.  the  Ammonites,  PI,  35,  and  PI.  38.  Scaphitcs,  PI,. 
44,  Fig.  15.  Ilamites,  Pi.  44,  Fig.  8_I3.  Turrilites,  PI.  44,  Fig.,  14,  and. 
Baculites,  PI.  44,  Fig.  5. 

21* 


246  DISTANCES    OF    TKANSVERSE    PLATES, 

tion  to  the  successive  stages  of  growth  of  the  outer  shell, 
mauitains  its  efficacy  as  a  Jloat,  enlarging  gradually  and 
periodically  until  the  animal  has  arrived  at  full  maturity.* 

A  fifth  consideration  is  had  of  mechanical  advantage,  in 
disposing  the  Distance  at  which  these  successive  transverse 
Plates  are  set  from  one  another.  (See  PI.  31.  Fig.  1.  and 
PI.  32,  Fig,  1,  2.)  Had  these  distances  increased  in  the 
same  proportion  as  the  area  of  the  air-chambers,  the  ex- 
ternal shell  would  have  been  without  due  support  beneath 
those  sides  of  the  largest  chambers,  where  the  pressure  is 
greatest :  for  this  a  remedy  is  provided  in  the  simple  con- 
trivance of  placing  the  transverse  plates  proportionally 
nearer  to  one  another,  as  the  chambers,  from  becoming 
larger,  require  an  increased  degree  of  support. 

Sixthly,  The  last  contrivance,  which  I  shall  here  notice, 
is  that  which  regulates  the  ascent  and  descent  of  the  anima] 
by  the  mechanism  of  the  Siphuncle.  The  use  of  this  organ 
has  never  yet  been  satisfactorily  ma'de  out ;  even  Mr.  Owen's 
most  important  Memoir  leaves  its  manner  of  operation  un- 
certain ;  but  the  appearances  which  it  occasionally  presents 
in  a  fossil  state,  (see  PI.  32,  Fig,  2,  3.,|  and  PI.  33,)  supplv 
evidence,  which  taken  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Owen's  re- 

*  In  a  young  Nautilus  Pompilius  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Brodcrip,  there 
are  only  seventeen  Sepia.  Dr.  Hook  says  that  he  has  found  in  some  shells 
as  many  as  forty.  A  cast,  expressing  the  form  of  a  single  air-chamber,  of 
the  Nautilus  Hcxagonus  is  represented  in  Pi.  42,  Fig.  1. 

t  PI.  32,  Fig.  2,  represents  a  fractured  portion  of  the  interior  of  a 
Nautilus  Hexagonus,  having  the  transverse  plates  (c.  c'.)  encrusted  with 
calcareous  spar ;  the  Siphuncle  a!=o  is  similarly  encrusted,  and  distended 
in  a  manner  which  illustrates  the  action  of  this  organ.  (PI.  32,  Fig.  2,  a, 
a'.  a2.  a3,  d.  e.  f,  and  Fig.  3,  d.  e.  f.)  The  fracture  at  Fig.  2,  b.  shows 
the  diameter  of  the  siphuncle,  where  it  passes  through  a  transverse  plate, 
to  be  iiiuch  smaller  than  it  is  midway  between  these  Plates  (at  d.  e.  f.) 
The  transverse  sections  at  Fig,  2,  a.  and  b ,  and  the  longitudinal  sections 
at  Fig.  2,  d.  e.  f.  and  Fig.  3,  d.  e.  f.,  show  that  the  interior  of  the  siphuncle 
is  filled  with  stone,  of  the  same  nature  with  the  stratum  in  which  the 
ehcU  was  lodged.  These  earthy  materials,  having  entered  the  orifice  of 
the  pipe  at  a  in  a  soft  and  plastic  state,  have  formed  a  cast  which  shows 
the  interior  of  this   pipe,  when  distended,  to  have  resembled   a  string    of 


MANNER  OF  ACTION  OF  THE  SIPHUNCLE.  247 

presentation  of  its  termination  in  a  large  sac  (P.  34,  p,  p,) 
surrounding  the  heart  of  the  animal,  (a.  a.,)  appears  suffi- 
cient to  decide  this  long  disputed  question.  If  we  suppose 
this  sac  (p,  p.)  to  contain  a  pericardial  fluid,  the  place  of 
which  is  alternately  changed  from  the  pericardium  (p,  p.), 

oval  beads,  connected  at  tlieir  ends  by  a  narrow  neck,  and  enlarged  at  their 
centre  to  nearly  double  the  diameter  of  this  neck. 

A  similar  distension  of  nearly  the  entire  siphuncle  by  the  stony  mate- 
rial of  the  rock  in  which,  the  shell  was  imbedded,  is  seen  in  the  specimen 
of  Nautilus  striatus  from  the  Lias  of  Whitby,  represented  at  PI.  3  J.  The 
Lias  which  fills  this  pipe,  must  have  entered  it  in  the  state  of  liquid  mud, 
to  the  same  extent  that  tlie  pericardial  fluid  entered,  during-  the  hydraulic 
action  of  the  siphuncle  in  the  act  of  sinking-;  not  one  of  the  air-chambers 
has  admitted  the  smallest  particle  of  this  mud;  they  are  all  filled  with  cal- 
careous spar,  subsequent  I  ij  introduced  by  gradual  infiltration,  and  at  succes- 
itive  periods  which  are  marked  by  changes  in  the  colour  of  the  spar.  In 
both  these  fossil  Nautili,  the  entire  series  of  the  earthy  casts  within  the 
siphuncle  represents  the  bulk  of  fluid  which  this  pipe  could  hold. 

The  sections,  F'l.  32,  P'ig.  3,  d.  e.  f,  show  the  edges  of  the  calcareous 
sheath  surrounding  the  oval  casts  of  three  comiiartmeiits  of  the  expanded 
siphuncle.  This  calcareous  sheath  was  probably  flexible,  like  that  sur- 
rounding the  membranous  pipe  of  the  recent  Nautilus  Pompilius.  (PI.  31, 
Fig.  1,  b.  d.  e. )  The  continuity  of  this  sheath  across  the  air-chambers, 
(Pi.  32,  Fig.  2,  d.  e.  f.  Fig.  3,  d.  c.  f.  and  PI.  33,)  shows  that  there  was  no 
communi cation  for  the  ])assage  of  any  fluid  from  the  siphuncle  into  these 
chambers:  had  any  such  existed,  some  portion  of  the  fine  earthy  matter, 
which,  in  these  two  fossils  foi  ms  the  casts  of  the  siphuncle,  must  have  passed 
through  it  into  these  chambers.  Nothing  has  entered  them,  hnt pure  crys- 
tallized spar,  introduced  by  infiltration  through  the  pores  of  the  shell,  after 
it  had  undergone  sufficient  decomposition  to  be  percolated  by  water,  hold- 
ing in  solution  carbonate  of  lime. 

The  same  argument  applies  to  the  solid  casts  of  pure  crystallized  car- 
bonate of  lime,  which  have  entirely  filled  the  chambers  (>f  the  specimen 
Fl.  32,  Fig.  1;  and  to  all  fossil  Nautih  and  Ammonites,  in  which  the  air- 
chambers  are  either  wholly  void,  or  partially,  or  entirely  filled  with  pure 
crystallized  carbonate  of  lim.e.  (See  PI.  42,  Fig.  1,  2,  3,  and  PI.  36.)  In 
all  such  cases,  it  is  clear  that  no  communication  existed,  by  which  water 
could  pass  from  the  interior  of  the  siphon  to  the  air-chambers.  When  the 
pipe  was  ruptured,  or  the  external  shell  broken,  the  earthy  sediment,  in- 
which  such  broken  shtlls  were  lodged,  finding  through  these  fractures  ad- 
mission to  the  air-chambers,  has  filled  them  with  clay,  or  sa.nd  or  limestone 


248  NAUTILUS  POMPILIUS. 

to  the  siphuncle,  (n.,)  we  shall  find  in  these  organs  an  hy^* 
draulic  apparatus  for  varying  the  specific  gravity  of  the 
shell;  so  that  it  sinks  when  the  pericardial  fluid  is  forced  into 
the  siphuncle,  and  becomes  buoyant,  whenever  this  fluid 
returns  to  the  pericardium.  On  this  hypothesis  also  the 
chambers  would  be  permanently  filled  with  air  alone,  the 
elasticity  of  which  would  readily  admit  of  the  alternate 
expansion  and  contraction  of  the  siphuncle,  in  the  act  of 
admitting  or  rejecting  the  pericardial  fluid. 

The  principle  to  which  we  thus  refer  the  rising  and  sink- 
ing of  the  hving  Nautilus,  has  been  already  stated  (P.  241) 
to  be  the  same  which  regulates  the  ascent  and  descent  of 
the  Water  Balloon:  the  application  of  external  pressure 
through  a  membrane  that  covers  the  column  of  water  in 
a  tall  glass,  forces  a  portion  of  this  water  into  the  cavity, 
or  'single  air-chamber  of  the  balloon,  which  immediately 
begins  to  sink ;  on  the  removal  of  this  pressure,  the  elasti- 
city of  the  compressed  air  causing  it  to  return  to  its  former 
volume,  again  expels  the  water,  and  the  balloon  begins  to 
rise.* 

I  shall  conclude  this  attempt  to  illustrate  the  structure  and 
economy  of  fossil  Nautili  by  those  of  the  living  species,  by 
showing  in  what  manner  the  chambers  of  the  pearly  Nau- 
tilus, supposing  them  to  be  permanently  filled  only  with  air, 
and  the  action  of  the  siphuncle,f  supposing  it  to  be  the  recep- 
tacle only  of  a  fluid  secretion,  interchanging  its  place  alter- 
nately from  the  siphuncle  to  the  pericardium, J  would  be  sub- 
sidiary to  the  movements  of  the  animal,  both  at  the  surface, 
and  bottom  of  the  sea. 

*  See  Sup.  Note. 

t  Tlie  substance  of  the  siphuncle  is  a  thin  and  strong  membrane,  with  no 
appearance  of  muscular  fibres,  by  whicli  it  could  contract  or  expand  itself; 
its  functions,  therefore,  must  have  been  entirely  passiue,  in  the  process  of 
admitting' or  ejecting  any  fluid  to  or  from  its  interior. —  (See  Owen's  Me- 
moir, p.  10.)  In  our  first  edition  it  was  stated  erroneously  that  the  siphun- 
cle had  no  appearance  of  muscular  fibres. 

t  See  Snp.  Note. 


ITS  ACTION  AT  THE  SURFACE.  249 

First,  The  animal  was  seen  and  captured  by  Mr.  Bennett, 
floating  at  the  surface,  with  the  upper  portion  of  the  shell 
raised  above  the  water,  and  kept  in  a  vertical  position  by 
means  of  the  included  air  (See  PI.  31.  Fig.  1.;)  this  position 
is  best  adapted  to  the  retrograde  motion,  which  a  Sepia 
derives  from  the  violent  ejection  of  water  through  its  funnel 
(k;)*  thus  far,  the  air-chambers,  serve  to  maintain  both  the 
shell  and  body  of  the  animal  in  a  state  of  equilibrium  at  the 
surface. 

Secondly,  The  next  point  to  be  considered  is  the  mode 
of  operation  of  the  siphuncle  and  air-chambers,  in  the  act 
of  sinJdrig  suddenly  from  the  surface  to  the  bottom.  These 
are  explained  in  the  note  subjoined.! 

*  See  Sup.  Note. 

t  It  appears  from  the  figure  of  the  animal,  PI.  34,  with  whicii  I  have 
been  favoured  by  Mr.  Owen,  that  the  tjpper  extremity  of  the  siphuncle 
marked  by  tiie  insertion  of  the  probe  b.,  terminates  in  tiie  cavity  of  the  peri- 
cardium p,  p.  As  this  cavity  contains  a  fluid,  more  dense  tiian  water, 
excreted  by  the  glandular  follicles  d.  d.,  and  is  apparently  of  such  a  size 
that  its  contents  would  suffice  to  fill  the  siphuncle,  it  is  probable  that  this 
fluid  forms  the.  circulating  medium  of  adjustment,  and  regulates  the  ascent 
or  descent  of  the  animal  by  its  interchange  of  place  from  the  pericardium  to 
the  siphuncle. 

When  the  arms  and  body  are  expanded,  the  fluid  remains  in  the  pericar- 
dium, and  the  siphuncle  is  empty,  and  collapsed,  and  surrounded  by  the 
portions  of  air  that  are  permanently  confined  within  each  air-chamber;  in 
this  state,  the  specific  gravity  of  the  body  and  shell  together  is  such  as  to 
cauise  the  animal  to  rise,  and  be  sustained  floating  at  the  surface. 

When,  on  any  alarm,  the  arms  and  body  are  contracted,  and  withdrawn 
into  the  shell,  the  retraction  of  these  parts,  causing  pressure  on  the  exterior  of 
the  pericardium,  forces  its  fluid  contents  downwards  into  the  siphuncle; 
and  the  bulk  of  the  body  being  thus  diminished,  without  increasing  the 
bulk  of  the  shell,  into  whose  cavities  the  fluid  is  witlidrawn,  the  specific 
gravity  of  the  whole  mass  is  suddenly  increased,  and  the  animal  begins 
to  sink. 

The  air  within  each  chamber  remains  under  compression,  as  long  as  ^he 
siphuncle  continues  distended  by  the  pericardial  fluid;  and  returning,  by  its 
elasticity,  to  its  former  state,  as  soon  as  the  pressure  of  the  arms  and  body 
is  withdrawn  from  the  pericardium,  forces  the  fluid  back  again  into  the 
cavity  of  this  organ  ;  and  thus  the  shell,  di.ninished  as  to  its  specfic  gravity, 
has  a  tendency  to  rise. 


250  ACTION   AT  THE  BOTTOM. 

Thirdly,  it  remains  to  consider  the  effect  of  the  air,  sup- 
posing it  to  be  retained  continually  within  the  chambers, 
at  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  Here,  if  the  position  of  the  moving 
animal  be  beneath  the  mouth  of  the  shell,  like  that  of  a 
snail  as  it  crawls  along  the  ground,  the  air  within  the 
chambers  would  maintain  the  shell,  buoyant,  and  floating 
at  ease  above  the  body;  and  the  tendency  of  the  shell  to  rise 
to  the  surface  would  be  counteracted  by  the  strong  muscular 
disk  (PL  31,  n.,)  with  which  the  creature  crawls,  and  ad- 
heres to  the  bottom,  using  freely  its  tentacula  to  seize  its 
prey.* 

Dr.  Hook  considered  (Hook's  Experiments,  8vo.  1726, 
page  308)  that  the  air  chambers  were  filled  alternately  ivith 
air  or  water  ;f  and  Parkinson  (Organic  Remains,  vol.  iii.  p 

The  place  of  tlie  pericardial  fluid,  therefore,  will  be  always  in  the  peri- 
cardium, excepting  when  it  is  forced  into  and  retained  in  the  siphuncle,  by 
muscular  pressure,  during  the  contraction  of  the  arms  and  body  closed  up 
within  the  shell.  When  these  are  expanded,  either  on  the  surface,  or  at  the 
bottom  of  the  sea,  the  water  will  have  free  access  to  the  branchiae,  and  the 
movements  of  the  heart  will  proceed  freely  in  the  distended  pericardium  ; 
which  will  be  emptied  of  its  fluid  at  those  times  only,  when  the  body  is 
closed,  and  the  access  of  water  to  the  branchiae  consequently  impeded. 

The  following  experiments  show  that  the  weight  of  fluid  requisite  to 
be  added  to  the  shell  of  a  Nautilus,  in  order  to  make  it  sink,  is  about  half  an 
ounce. 

I  took  two  perfect  shells  of  a  Nautilus  Pompilius,  each  weighing  about 
six  onuces  and  a  half  in  air,  and  measuring  about  seven  inches  across  their 
largest  diameter;  and  having  stopped  the  siphuncle  with  wax,  I  found  that 
each  shell,  when  placed  in  fresh-water,  required  the  weight  of  a  few  grains 
more  than  an  ounce  to  make  it  sink.  As  the  shell,  when  attached  to  the 
living  animal,  was  probably  a  quarter  of  an  ounce  heavier  than  these  dry 
dead  shells,  and  the  specific  gravity  of  the  body  of  the  animal  may  have 
exceeded  that  of  water  to  the  amount  of  another  quarter  of  an  ounce,  there 
remains  about  half  an  ounce,  for  the  weight  of  fluid  which  being  introduced 
into  the  siphuncle,  would  cause  the  shell  to  sink;  and  this  quantity  seems 
well  proportioned  to  the  capacity  both  of  the  pericardium,  and  of  the  dis- 
tended siphuncle,  ^ 

*  See  Sup,  Note, 

•}■  If  the  chambers  were  filled  with  water,  the  shell  could  not  be  thus 
suspended  without  muscular  exertion,  and  instead  of  being  poised  verti- 
cally over  the  body,  in  a  position  of  ease  and  safety,  would  be  continually 


OPINIONS  OF  HOOK  AND  PARKINSON.  251 

102,)  admitting  that  these  chambers  were  not  accessible  to 
water,  thinks  that  the  act  of  rising  or  sinking  depends  on 
the  alternate  introduction  of  air  or  water  into  the  siphuncle; 
but  he  is  at  a  loss  to  find  the  source  from  which  this  air 
could  be  obtained  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  or  to  explain 
"  in  what  manner  the  animal  effected  those  modifications 
of  the  tube  and  its  contained  air,  on  which  the  variation  of 
its  buoyancy  depended."*  The  theory  which  supposes  the 
chambers  of  the  shell  to  be  permanently  filled  with  air  alone, 
and  the  siphuncle  to  be  the  organ  which  regulates  the  rising 
or  sinking  of  the  animal,  by  changing  the  place  of  the  peri- 
cardial fluid,  seems  adequate  to  satisfy  every  hydraulic 
condition  of  a  Problem  that  has  hitherto  received  no  satis- 
factory solution. 

I  have  dwelt  thus  long  upon  this  subject,  on  account  of 
its  importance,  in  explaining  the  complex  structure,  and 
hitherto  imperfectly  understood  functions,  of  all  the  nume- 
rous and  widely  disseminated  families  of  fossil  chambered 
shells,  that  possessed  siphunculi.f  If,  in  all  these  families,  it 
can  be  shown  that  the  same  principles  of  mechanism,  under 
various  modifications,  have  prevailed  from  the  first  com- 
mencement of  organic  life  unto  the  present  hour,  we  can 
hardly  avoid  the  conclusion  which  would  refer  such  unity 
of  organizations  to  the  will  and  agency  of  one  and  the  same 
intelligent  First  Cause,  and  lead  us  to  regard  them  all  as 
"  emanations  of  that  Infinite  Wisdom,  that  appears  in  the 
shape  and  structure  of  all  other  created  beings."J 

tending  to  fall  flat  upon  its  side;  thus  exposing  itself  to  injury  by  fric- 
tion, and  the  animal  to  attacks  from  its  enemies.  Rumphius  states,  that 
at  the  bottom,  He  creeps  with  his  boat  above  him,  and  with  his  head  and 
barbs  (tentacula)  on  the  ground,  making  a  tolerably  quick  progress.  I 
have  observed  that  a  similar  vertical  position  is  maintained  by  the  shell  of 
the  Planorbis  corneus,  whilst  in  the  act  of  crawling  at  the  bottom. 

*  The  recent  observations  of  Mr.  Owen  show,  that  there  is  no  gland  con- 
nected with  the  siphuncle,  similar  to  that  which  is  supposed  to  secrete  air  in 
the  air-bladder  of  fishes. 

+  See  Sup.  Note. 

t  Dr.  Hook's  Experiments,  p.  306. 


252  AMMONITES. 


SECTION  IV. 


AMMONITES. 


Having  entered  thus  largely  into  the  history  of  the  Me- 
chanism of  the  shells  of  Nautili,  we  have  hereby  prepared 
ourselves  for  the  consideration  of  that  of  the  kindred  family 
of  Ammonites,  in  which  all  the  essential  parts  are  so  similar 
in  principle  to  those  of  the  shells  of  Nautili,  as  to  leave  no 
doubt  that  they  were  subservient  to  a  like  purpose  in  the 
economy  of  the  numerous  extinct  species  of  Cephalopodous 
Mollusks,  from  which  these  Ammonites  have  been  derived. 

Geological  Distribution  of  Amjnonites. 

The  family  of  Ammonites  extends  through  the  entire  series 
of  the  fossiliferous  Formations,  from  the  Transition  strata 
to  the  Chalk  inclusive.  M.  Brochant,  in  his  Translation  of 
De  la  Beche's  Manuel  of  Geology,  enumerates  270  species  ; 
these  species  differ*  according  to  the  age  of  the  strata  in 


*  Thus  one  of  the  first  forms  under  which  this  family  appeared,  the  Am- 
monites Henslowi,  (PI.  40,  Fig.  1,)  ceased  with  the  Transition  formation  ; 
the  A.  Nodosus  (PI.  40,  Figs.  4,  5.)  began  and  terminated  its  period  of  e.t. 
istence  with  the  Muschclkalk.  Other  genera  and  species  of  Ammonites,  in 
like  manner,  begin  and  end  witli  certain  definite  strata,  in  tlic  Oolitic  and 
Cretaceous  formations ;  e.  g,  tiie  A.  Bucklandi  (PI.  37,  Fig.  6.)  is  peculiar 
to  the  Lias;  the  A.  Goodhalli  to  the  Greensand;  and  the  A.  Rustieusto  the 
Chalk.  There  are  few,  if  any,  species  which  extend  through  the  whole  of 
the  Secondary  periods,  or  which  have  passed  into  the  Secondary,  from  the 
Transition  period. 

The  following  Tabular  Arrangement  of  the  distribution  of  Ammonites,  in 
different  geological  formations,  is  given  by  Professor  Phillips  in  his  Guide 
■1o  Geology,  1834,  p.  77. 


EXTENT    AND    NUMBER   OF    SPECIES. 


253 


which  they  are  found,  and  vary  in  size  from  a  line  to  more 
than  four  feet  in  diameter.* 

It  is  needlees  here  to  speculate  either  on  the  physical,  or 
linal  causes  which  produced  these  curious  changes  of 
species,  in  this  highest  order  of  the  Molluscous  inhabitants 
of  the  seas,  during  some  of  the  early  and  the  middle  ages  of 
geological  chronology ;  but  the  exquisite  symmetry,  beauty, 
and  minute  delicacy  of  structure,  that  pervade  each  varia- 
tion of  contrivance  throughout  several  hundred  species, 
leave  no  room  to  doubt  the  exercise  of  Design  and  Intelli- 
gence in  their  construction ;  although  we  cannot  always 


SUB-GENERA  OF  AMMONITES. 


LIVING  SPECIES. 


In  Tertiary  strata 

In  Cretaceous  system.  .  ,  . 

In  Oolitic  system 

In  Saliferous  system.  .  .  . 
In  Carljoniferous  system.  . 
t  In  Primary  strata 


12 


4 
22:27 


12 


26 


Total  223  species. 

"  It  is  easy  to  see  how  important,  in  questions  concerning  the  relative 
antiquity  of  stratified  rocks,  is   a  knowledge  of  Ammonites,  since  whole 

sections  of  them  are  characteristic  of  certain  systems  of  rocks." Phillips's 

Guide  to  Geology,  8vo.  1 834,  sec.  82. 

*  Mr.  Sowerby  (Min.  conch,  vol.  iv,  p.  79  and  p.  81,)  and  Mr.  Mantell 
speak  of  Ammonites  in  Chalk,  having  a  diameter  of  three  feet.  Sir  T. 
Harvey,  and  Mr.  Keith  Milnes,  have  recently  measured  Ammonites  in  the 
Chalk  near  Margate,  which  exceeded /our /fief  in  diameter;  and  this  in  cases 
where  the  diameter  can  have  been  in  a  very  small  degree  enlarged  by  pres- 
sure. 

t  The  strata  here  termed  primary  are  those  which,  in  the  Sections,  (PI.  1,)  I  have  in- 
cluded iu  the  lower  region  of  the  transition  series. 

VOL.  I.— 22 


254  GEOGRAPHICAL    DISTRIBUTION. 

point  out  the  specific  uses  of  each  minute  variation,  in  the 
arrangement  of  parts  fundamentally  the  same. 

The  geographical  distribution  of  Ammonites  in  the  an- 
cient world,  seems  to  have  partaken  of  that  universality, 
we  find  so  common  in  the  animals  and  vegetables  of  a 
former  condition  of  our  globe,  and  which  differs  so  remark- 
ably from  the  varied  distribution  that  prevails  among  exist- 
ing forms  of  organic  life.  We  find,  the  same  genera,  and, 
in  a  few  cases,  the  same  species  of  Ammonites,  in  strata, 
apparently  of  the  same  age,  not  only  throughout  Europe, 
but  also  in  distant  regions  of  Asia,  and  of  North  and  South 
America.* 

Hence  we  infer  that  during  the  Secondary  and  Transi- 
tion periods  a  more  general  distribution  of  the  same  species, 
than  exists  at  present,  prevailed  in  regions  of  the  world 
most  remotely  distant  from  one  another. 

An  Ammonite,  Hke  a  Nautilus,  is  composed  of  three 
essential  parts:  1st.  An  external  shell,  usually  of  a  flat  dis- 
coidal  form,  and  having  its  surface  strengthened  and  orna- 
mented with  ribs  (see  PI.  35,  and  PI.  37.)  2d.  A  series  of 
internal  air-chambers    formed  by  transverse  plates,  inter- 

*  Dr.  Gerard  has  discovered  at  the  elevation  of  sixteen  thousand  feet  in 
the  Himmalaya  Mountains,  species  of  ammonites,  e.  g.  A.  Walcoti,  and  A- 
communis,  identical  with  those  of  the  Lias  at  Whitby  and  Lyme  Regis. 
He  lias  also  found  in  the  same  parts  of  the  Himmalaya,  several  species  of 
Belemnite,  with  Terebratulse  and  other  bivalves,  that  occur  in  the  Englisii 
Oolite ;  thereby  establishing  the  existence  of  the  Lias,  and  Oolite  for- 
mations in  that  elevated  and  distant  region  of  the  world.  He  has  also 
collected  in  the  same  Mountains,  shells  of  the  genera  Spirifer,  Producta, 
and  Terebratula,  which  occur  in  tiie  Transition  formations  of  Europe  and 
America. 

The  Greensand  of  New  Jersey  also  contains   Ammonites  mixed  with 

Hamites  and  Scnphites,  as  in  the  greensand  of  England,  and  Captain  Beechy, 

and  Lieutenant  Belcher  found  Ammonites  on  the  coast  of  Chili  in  Lat.  36  S. 

in  the  Cliffs  near  Conception;  a  fragment  of  one  of  these  Ammonites  is 

preserved  in  the  Museum  of  Hasler  Hospital  at  Gosport. 

Mr.  Sowerby  possesses  fossil  shells  from  Brazil  resembling  those  of  the 

laferior  Oolite  of  England. 


AMMONITES  WERE  EXTERNAL  SHELLS.  25.5 

seating  the  inner  portion  of  the  shell,  (See  PI.  36  and  41.) 
3d.  A  siphuncle,  or  pipe,  commencing  at  the  bottom  of  the 
outer  chamber,  and  thence  passing  through  the  entire  series 
of  air-chambers  to  the  innermost  extremity  of  the  shell,  (see 
PI.  36,  d.  e.  f.  g.  h.  i.)  In  each  of  these  parts,  there  are 
evidences  of  mechanism,  and  consequently  of  design,  a  few 
of  which  I  shall  endeavour  briefly  to  point  out. 

External  Shell. 

The  use  and  place  of  the  shells  of  Ammonites  has  much 
perplexed  geologists  and  conchologists.  Cuvier  and  La- 
marck, guided  by  the  analogies  afforded  by  the  Spirula, 
supposed  them  to  be  internal  shells.*  There  is,  however, 
good  reason  to  believe  that  they  were  entirely  external,  and 
that  the  position  of  the  body  of  the  animal  within  these  shells 

*  The  smallncss  of  the  outer  chamber,  or  place  of  lodgment  for  the 
animal,  is  advanced  by  Cuvier  in  favour  of  his  opinion  that  Ammonites,  like 
the  Spirula,  were  internal  shells.  This  reason  is  probably  founded  on  obser- 
vations  made  upon  imperfect  specimens.  The  outer  chamber  of  Ammonites 
is  very  seldom  preserved  in  a  perfect  state,  but  when  this  happens,  it  is 
found  to  bear  at  least  as  large  a  proportion  to  the  chambered  part  of  the 
shell,  as  the  outer  cell  of  the  N.  Pompilius  bears  to  the  chambered  interior 
of  that  shell.  It  often  occupies  more  than  half,  (see  PI.  36.  a.  b.  c.  d.)  and, 
in  some  cases,  the  whole  circumference  of  the  out  whorl.  This  open  cham- 
ber is  not  thin  and  feeble,  like  the  long  anterior  chamber  of  the  Spirula, 
which  is  placed  within  the  body  of  the  animal  producing  this  shell;  but  is 
nearly  of  equal  thickness  with  the  sides  of  the  close  chambers  of  the  Ammo- 
nite. 

Moreover,  the  margin  of  tiie  mature  Ammonite  is  in  some  species  reflected 
in  a  kind  of  scroll,  like  the  thickened  margin  of  the  shell  of  the  garden  snail, 
giving  to  this  part  a  strength  which  would  apparently  be  needless  to  an 
internal  shell.     (See  PI.  37.  Fig.  3.  d.) 

The  presence  of  spines  also  in  certain  species,  (as  in  A.  Armafus,  A.  Sovv- 
erbii,)  affords  a  strong  argument  against  the  theory  of  their  having  been 
internal  shells.  These  spines  which  have  an  obvious  use  for  protection,  if 
placed  externally,  would  seem  to  have  been  useless,  and  perhaps  noxious  in 
an  internal  position,  and  are  without  example  in  any  internal  structure  with 
which  we  are  acquainted. 


256  ANIMAL  OCCUPIED  THE  LAST  CHAMBER. 

was  analogous  to  that  of  the  inhabitant  of  tiie  Nautilus 
Pompilius.     (See  PI.  31,  Fig.  1.) 

Mr.  De  la  Beche  has  shown  that  the  mineral  condition  of 
the  outer  chamber  of  many  Ammonites,  from  the  Lias  at 
Lyme  Regis,  proves  that  the  entire  body  was  contained 
within  it;  and  that  these  animals  were  suddenly  destroyed 
and  buried  in  the  earthy  sediment  of  which  the  lias  is  com- 
posed, before  their  bodies  had  either  undergone  decay,  or 
been  devoured  by  the  crustaceous  Carnivora  with  which 
the  bottom  of  the  sea  then  abounded.* 

As  all  these  shells  served  the  double  office  of  affording 
protection,  and  acting  as  floats,  it  was  necessary  that  they 
should  be  thin,  or  they  would  have  been  too  heavy  to  rise 
to  the  surface:  it  was  not  less  necessary  that  they  should 
be  strong,  to  resist  pressure  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea ;  and 
accordingly  we  lind  them  fitted  for  this  double  function,  by 
the  disposition  of  their  materials,  in  a  manner  calculated  to 
combine  lightness  and  buoyancy  with  strength. 


*  In  the  Ammonites  in  question,  tlie  outer  extremity  of  the  first  great 
chamber  in  which  the  body  of  the  animal  was  contained,  is  filled  with 
stone  only  to  a  small  depth,  (sec  PI.  36,  from  a.  to  b. ;)  the  remainder  of 
this  chamber  from  b.  to  c.,  is  occupied  by  brown  calcareous  spar,  which  has 
been  ascertained  by  Dr.  Prout  to  owe  its  colour  to  the  presence  of  animal 
matter,  whilst  the  internal  air-chambers  and  siphuncle  are  filled  with  pure 
white  spar.  The  extent  of  the  brown  calcareous  spar,  therefore,  in  the  outer 
chamber,  represents  tlie  space  which  was  occupied  by  the  body  of  the  animal 
after  it  had  shrunk  within  its  shell,  at  the  moment  of  its  death,  leaving  void 
the  outer  portion  only  of  its  chamber,  from  a.  to  b.,  to  receive  the  muddy 
sediment  in  which  tlie  shell  was  imbedded. 

I  have  many  specimens  from  the  lias  of  Whilby,  of  the  Ammonites  Com- 
munis, in  which  the  outer  ciiambcr  thus  filled  with  spar,  occupies  nearly 
the  entire  last  whorl  of  the  shell,  its  largest  extremity  only  being  filled  with 
lias.  From  specimens  of  this  kind  we  also  learn,  that  the  animal  inhabiting 
the  shell  of  an  Ammonite,  had  no  ink-bag  ;  if  such  an  organ  existed,  traces 
of  its  colour  must  have  been  found  within  the  cavity  which  contained  the 
body  of  the  animal  at  the  moment  of  its  death.  The  protection  of  a  shell 
seems  to  have  rendered  the  presence  of  an  ink-bag  supurfluous. 


FLUTED  FORM  OP  RIBS.  257 

First,  The  entire  shell,  (PI.  35,)  is  one  continuous  arch, 
coiled  spirally  around  itself  in  such  a  manner,  that  the  base 
of  the  outer  whorls  rests  upon  the  crown  of  the  inner  whorls, 
and  thus  the  keel  or  back  is  calculated  to  resist  pressure,  in 
the  same  manner  as  the  shell  of  a  common  hen's  egg  resists 
great  force  if  apphed  in  the  direction  of  its  longitudinal  dia- 
meter. 

Secondly,  besides  this  general  arch-like  form,  the  shell 
is  farther  strengthened  by  the  insertion  of  ribs,  or  trans- 
verse arches  which  give  to  many  of  the  species  their 
most  characteristic  feature,  and  produce  in  all,  that  pecu- 
liar beauty  which  invariably  accompanies  the  symmetrical 
repetition  of  a  series  of  spiral  curves.  (See  PI.  37,  Figs.  1 — 
10.) 

From  the  disposition  of  these  ribs  over  the  surface  of  the 
external  shell,  there  arise  mechanical  advantages  for  in- 
creasing its  strength,  founded  on  a  principle  that  is  practi- 
cally applied  in  works  of  human  art.  The  principle  I  allude 
to,  is  that  by  which  the  strength  and  stiffness  of  a  thin  me- 
tallic plate  are  much  increased  by  corrugating,  or  applying 
Jlutings  to  its  surface.  A  common  pencil-case,  if  made  of 
corrugated  or  fluted  metal,  is  stronger  than  if  the  same 
quantity  of  metal  were  disposed  in  a  simple  tube.  Culinary 
moulds  of  tin  and  copper  are  in  the  same  way  strengthened, 
by  folds  or  flutings  around  their  margin,  or  on  their  convex 
surfaces.  The  recent  application  of  thin  plates  of  corru- 
gated iron  to  the  purpose  of  making  self-supporting  roofs,  in 
which  the  corrugations  of  the  iron  supply  the  place,  and 
combine  the  power  of  beams  and  rafters,  is  founded  on  the 
same  principle  that  strengthens  the  vaulted  shells  of  Am- 
monites. In  all  these  cases,  the  ribs  or  elevated  portions, 
add  to  the  plates  of  shell,  or  metal,  the  strength  resulting 
from  the  convex  form  of  an  arch,  without  materially  in- 
creasing their  weight;  whilst  the  intermediate  depressed 
parts  between  these  arches,  are  suspended  and   supported 

22* 


258  SUBDIVISION  OF  RIBS. 

by  the  tenacity  and  strength  of  the  material.  (Sec  PI.  37, 
Figs.  1—10.*) 

The  general  principle  of  dividing  and  subdividing  the  ribs, 
in  order  to  multiply  supports  as  the  vault  enlarges,  is  con- 
ducted nearly  on  the  same  plan,  and  for  the  same  purpose, 
as  the  divisions  and  subdivisions  of  the  ribs  beneath  the  groin 
irorli,  in  the  flat  vaulted  roofs  of  the  florid  Gothic  Architec- 
ture. 

Another  source  of  strength  is  introduced  in  many  species 
of  Ammonites  by  the  elevation  of  parts  of  the  ribs  into  little 
dome-shaped  tubercles,  or  bosses,  thus  superadding  the 
strength  of  a  dome  to  that  of  the  simple  arch,  at  each  point 
where  these  tubercles  are  inserted.^ 

*  The  figures  engraved  at  PI.  37,  afford  examples  of  various  contrivances 
to  give  strength  and  beauty  to  the  external  shell.  The  first  and  simplest 
mode,  is  that  represented  in  PI.  35  and  PI.  37,  V'lg.  1  and  6.  Here  each 
rib  is  single,  and  extends  over  the  wliole  surface,  becoming  graduall)'  wider, 
as  the  space  enlarges  towards  the  outer  margin,  or  back  of  the  shell. 

The  next  variation  is  that  represented  (PI.  37,  Figs.  2,  7,  9,)  where  the 
ribs,  originating  singly  on  tlie  inner  margin,  soon  bifurcate  into  two  ribs  that 
extend  outwards,  and  terminate  upon  the  dorsal  keel. 

In  tlie  third  case,  (Pi.  27.  Fig.  4.)  the  ribs  originate  simply,  and  bifur- 
cating as  the  shell  enlarges,  extend  this  bifurcation  entirely  around  its  circu- 
lar back.  Between  each  pair  of  bifurcated  ribs,  a  third  or  auxiliary  sliort  rib 
is  interposed,  to  fill  up  the  enlarged  space  on  the  dorsal  portion  where  the 
shell  is  broadest. 

In  the  fourth  modification,  (Pi.  37,  Fig.  3,)  the  ribs  originating  singly  on 
the  internal  margin,  soon  become  trifurcatc,  and  expand  outwards,  around 
tlie  circular  back  of  the  shell.  A  perfect  mouth  of  this  shell  is  represented 
attl.  37,Fig.  3.d. 

A  fifth  case  is  that  (PI.  37,  Fig.  5,)  in  which  the  simple  rib  becomes  tri- 
furcatc as  tiie  space  enlarges,  and  one  or  more  aiixiliary  sliort  ribs  are  also 
interposed,  between  each  trlfurcation.  Tiiese  subdivisions  are  not  always 
maintained  with  numerical  fidelity  through  every  individual  of  the  same 
species,  nor  over  the  whole  surface  of  the  same  shell;  their  use,  however,  is 
always  the  same,  viz.  to  cover  and  strengthen  tliose  spaces  whicli  the  ex- 
pansion of  the  shell  towards  its  outer  circumference,  would  have  rendered 
weak  without  the  aid  of  some  such  compensation. 

j-  These  places  are  usually  either  at  the  point  of  bifiu-cation,  as  in  PI.  37, 
I'lgs.  2;  7,  9, 10,  or  at  tiie  point  of  trifurcation,  as  in  Fig.  3. 


VAULTED  DOMES  AND  BOSSES.  259 

The  bosses  thus  often  introduced  at  the  origin,  division,  and 
termination  of  the  ribs,  are  placed  hke  those  apphed  by  archi- 
tects to  the  intersections  of  the  ribs  in  Gothic  roofs,  and  are 
much  more  efficient  in  producing  strength.*  These  tuber- 
cles have  the  eftect  of  little  vaults  or  domes  ;  and  they  are 
usually  placed  at  those  parts  of  the  external  shell,  beneath 
which  there  is  no  immediate  support  from  the  internal  trans- 
verse plates  (see  PI.  37,  Fig.  8.  PI.  42.  Fig.  3.  c.  d.  e.  and 
PI.  40.  Fig.  5.)t 

*  The  ribs  and  bosses  in  vaulted  roofs  project  beneath  the  under  surface 
of  the  arch;  in  the  sliclls  of  Ammonites,  they  are  raised  above  the  convex 
surface. 

T  In  PI.  37,  Fig.  9.  (A.  varians,)  the  strength  of  the  ribs  and  proportions 
of  the  tubercles  arc  variable,  but  the  general  character  exhibits  a  triple  se- 
ries of-large  tubercles,  rising  from  the  surface  of  the  transverse  ribs.  Each 
of  lliese  ribs  commences  with  a  small  tubercle  near  the  inner  margin  of  the 
shell.  At  a  short  distance  outwards  is  a  second  and  l.irger  tubercle,  from 
which  the  rib  bifurcates,  and  terminates  in  a  third  tubercle,  raised  at  the 
extremity  of  each  fork  upon  tlie  dorsal  margin. 

Many  species  of  Ammonites  have  also  a  dorsal  ridge  or  keel,  (PI.  37, 
Figs.  1.  2.  6.)  passing  along  the  back  of  the  shell,  immediately  over  the 
siphuncle,  and  apparently  answering,  in  some  cases,  the  farther  purpose 
of  a  cut-water,  and  keel  (PI.  37,  Figs.  1,  2.)  In  certain  species,  e.  g.  in 
the  A.  lautus  (PI.  37,  Fig.  7,  a.  c.)  there  is  a  double  keel,  produced  by 
a  deep  depression  along  the  dorsal  margin ;  and  the  keels  are  fortified  by 
a  line  of  tubercles  placed  at  the  extremity  of  the  transverse  ribs.  In  the 
A.  varians  (PI.  37,  9.  a.  b.  c.)  which  lias  a  triple  keel,  the  two  external  ones 
are  fortitied  by  tubercles,  as  in  Fig.  7,  and  the  central  keel  is  a  simple  con- 
vex arch. 

PI.  37,  Fig.  8.  offers  an  example  of  domes,  or  bosses,  compensating 
tlie  weakness  that,  without  them,  would  exist  in  the  A.  catena,  from  the 
minuteness  of  its  ribs,  and  the  flatness  of  the  sides  of  the  shell.  These 
fiat  parts  are  all  supported  by  an  abundant  distribution  of  tiie  edges  of 
the  transverse  plates  directly  beneath  them,  whilst  those  parts  which  arc 
elevated  into  bosses,  being  sufficiently  strong,  are  but  slightly  provided  wilh 
any  other  support.  The  back  of  this  shell  also,  being  nearly  flat,  (Pi. 
37,  Fig.  8.  b.  c.)  is  strongly  supported  by  ramifications  of  the  transverse 
plates. 

In  PI.  37.  Fig.  G,  which  has  a  triple  keel,  (that  in  the  centre  passing  over 
the  siphuncle,)  this  triple  elevation  afi'ords  compensation  for  the  weakness 
that  would  otherwise  arise  from  the  great  breadth  and  flatness  of  the  dorsal 


260  TRANSVERSE  PLATES  AND  AIR-CHAMBERS. 

Similar  tubercles  are  introduced  with  the  same  advantage 
of  adding  Strength  as  well  as  Beauty  in  many  other  cognate 
genera  of  chambered  shells.     (PI.  44,  Fig.  9.  10.  14.  15.) 

In  all  these  cases,  we  recognise  the  exercise  of  Discretion 
and  Economy  in  the  midst  of  Abundance  ;  distributing  in- 
ternal supports  but  sparingly,  to  parts  which,  from  their  ex- 
ternal form,  were  already  strong,  and  dispensing  them  abun- 
dantly beneath  those  parts  only,  which  without  them,  would 
have  been  weak. 

We  find  an  infinity  of  variations  in  the  form  and  sculpture 
of  the  external  shell,  and  a  not  less  beautiful  variety  in  the 
methods  of  internal  fortification,  all  adapted  with  archi- 
tectural advantage,  to  produce  a  combination  of  Ornament 
with  Utility.  The  ribs  also  are  variously  multiplied,  as  the 
increasing  space  demands  increased  support ;  and  are  vari- 
ously adorned  and  armed  with  domes  and  bosses,  wherever 
there  is  need  of  more  than  ordinary  strength. 

Transverse  Plates,  and  Mr  Chambers. 

The  uses  of  the  internal  air-chambers  will  best  be  under- 
stood by  reference  to  our  figures.  PL  36  represents  a  lon- 
gitudinal section  of  an  Ammonite  bisecting  the  transverse 
plates  in  the  central  line  where  their  curvature  is  most  sim- 
ple. On  each  side  of  this  line,  the  curvature  of  these  plates 
become  more  complicated,  until,  at  their  termination  in  the 
external  shell,  they  assume  a  beautifully  sinuous,  or  foliated 
arrangement,  resembling  the  edges  of  a  parsley  leaf,  (Pi. 
38,)  the  uses  of  which,  in  resisting  pressure,  I  shall  farther 
illustrate  by  the  aid  of  graphic  representations. 


portion  of  this  species.  Between  these  three  keels,  or  ridg^es,  are  two  de- 
pressions or  dorsal  furrows,  and  as  these  furrows  form  the  weakest  portion 
of  the  shell,  a  compensation  is  provided  by  conducting-  beneath  them  tiic 
denticulated  edges  of  the  transverse  plates,  so  that  tliej'  present  long  lines 
of  resistance  to  external  pressure. 


THEIR  USE  IN  RESISTING  PRESSURE.  261 

At  PI.  35,  from  d.  to  e.  we  see  the  edges  of  the  same  trans- 
verse plates  which,  in  PI.  36,  are  simple  curves,  becoming 
foliated  at  their  junction  with  the  outer  shell,  and  thus  distri- 
buting their  support  more  equally  beneath  all  its  parts,  than 
if  these  simple  curves  had  been  continued  to  the  extremity 
of  the  transverse  plates.  In  more  than  two  hundred  known 
species  of  Ammonites,  the  transverse  plates  present  some 
beautifully  varied  modifications  of  this  foliated  expansion  at 
their  edges ;  the  effect  of  which,  in  every  case,  is  to  increase 
the  strength  of  the  outer  shell,  by  multiplying  the  subjacent 
points  of  resistance  to  external  pressure.  We  know  that 
the  pressure  of  the  sea,  at  no  great  depth,  will  force  a  cork 
into  a  bottle  filled  with  air,  or  crush  a  hollow  cylinder  or 
sphere  of  thin  copper ;  and  as  the  air-chambers  of  Ammo- 
nites were  subject  to  similar  pressure,  whilst  at  the  bottom 
of  the  sea,  they  required  some  peculiar  provision  to  preserve 
them  from  destruction,*  more  especially  as  most  zoologists 
agree  that  they  existed  at  great  depths,  "  dans  les  grandes 
profondeurs  des  mers."f 

Here  again  we  find  the  inventions  of  art  anticipated  in 

*  Captain  Smyth  found,  on  two  trials,  that  the  cyUndrical  copper  air  tube, 
vuidei"  the  vane  attached  to  Massey's  patent  sounding  machine,  collapsed, 
and  was  crushed  quite  flat  under  a  pressure  of  about  three  hundred  fathoms. 
A  claret  bottle  filled  with  air,  and  well  corked,  was  burst  before  it  had  de- 
scended four  hundred  fathoms.  He  also  found  that  a  bottle  filled  with 
fresh-water,  and  corked,  had  the  cork  forced  at  about  a  hundred  and  eighty 
fathoms  below  the  surface;  in  such  cases,  the  fluid  sent  down  is  replaced  by 
salt  water,  and  the  cork  which  had  been  forced  in,  is  sometimes  inverted. 

Captain  Beaufort  also  informs  me,  that  he  has  frequently  sunk  corked 
bottles  in  the  sea  more  thaii  a  hundred  fathoms  deep,  some  of  them  empty, 
and  others  containing  a  fluid.  The  empty  bottles  were  sometimes  crushed, 
at  other  times,  the  cork  was  forced  in,  and  the  bottle  returned  full  of  sea 
water.  The  cork  of  the  bottles  containing  a  fluid  was  uniformly  forced 
in,  and  the  fluid  exchanged  for  sea  water;  the  cork  was  always  returned  to 
the  neck  of  the  bottle,  sometimes,  but  not  always,  in  an  inverted  position. 

f  See  Lamarck,  who  cites  Bruguieres  with  approbation  on  this  point. — 
Animaux  sans:  Vert:  vol.  vii.  p.  635. 


262  SINUOUS  EDGES  OF  TRANSVERSE  PLATES. 

the  works  of  nature,  and  the  same  principle  applied  to  resist 
the  inward  pressure  of  the  sea  upon  the  shells  of  Ammonites^ 
that  an  engineer  makes  use  of  in  fixing  transverse  stays  be- 
neath the  planks  of  the  wooden  centre  on  which  he  builds 
his  arch  of  stone. 

The  disposition  of  these  supports  assumes  throughout  the 
family  of  Ammonites  a  different  arrangement  from  the  more 
simple  curvature  of  the  edges  of  the  transverse  plates  within 
the  shells  of  NautiH ;  and  we  find  a  probable  cause  for  this 
variation,  in  the  comparative  thinness  of  the  outer  shells  of 
many  Ammonites;  since  this  external  weakness  creates  a 
need  of  more  internal  support  under  the  pressure  of  deep 
water,  than  was  requisite  in  the  stronger  and  thicker  shells 
of  NautiH. 

This  support  is  effected  by  causing  the  edges  of  the  trans- 
verse plates  to  deviate  from  a  simple  curve,  into  a  variety 
of  attenuated  ramifications  and  undulating  sutures.  (See 
PI.  38.  and  PI.  37,  Figs.  6,  8.)  Nothing  can  be  more  beau- 
tiful than  the  sinuous  windings  of  these  sutures  in  many  spe- 
cies, at  their  union  with  the  exterior  shell;  adorning  it  with 
a  succession  of  most  graceful  forms,  resembling  festoons  of 
foliage,  and  elegant  embroidery.  When  these  thin  septa  are 
converted  into  iron  pyrites,  their  edges  appear  like  golden 
filigrane  work,  meandering  amid  the  pellucid  spar,  that  fills 
the  chambers  of  the  shell.* 

*  The  A.  Heterophyllus,  PI.  (38,)  is  so  called  from  the  apparent  occur- 
rence of  two  different  forms  of  foliage;  its  laws  of  dentation  ai'e  the  same 
as  in  other  Ammonites,  but  the  ascending  secondaiy  saddles  (Pi.  38.  S. 
S.)  which,  in  all  Ammonites  are  round,  are  in  this  species  longer  than  ordi- 
nary, and  catch  attention  more  than  the  descending  points  of  the  lobes, 
(P1.38.  d.l.) 

The  figures  of  the  edge  of  one  transverse  plate  are  repeated  in  each  sue, 
cessive  plate.  The  animal,  as  it  enlarged  its  shell,  thus  leaving  behin  I  it  a 
new  chamber,  more  capacious  than  the  last,  so  that  the  edges  of  the  plates 
never  interfere  or  become  entangled. 

Although  the  pattern  on  the  surflice  of  this  Ammonite  is  apparently  so 


VARIED  PROPORTIONS  OF  SUPPORT.  263 

The  shell  of  the  Ammonites  Heterophyllus  (PI.  38,  and 
PI.  39,)  affords  beautiful  exemplifications  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  mechanical  strength  of  each  transverse  plate  is  so 
disposed,  as  to  vary  its  support  in  proportion  to  the  different 
degrees  of  necessity  that  exist  for  it  in  different  parts  of  the 
same  shell.* 

complicated,  the  number  of  transverse  plates  is  but  sixteen  in  one  revo, 
lution  of  the  shell ;  in  this,  as  in  almost  all  other  cases,  the  extreme 
beauty  and  elegance  of  the  foliations  result  from  the  repetition,  at  regu- 
lar intervals,  of  one  symmetrical  system  of  forms,  viz.  those  presented 
by  the  external  margin  of  a  single  transverse  plate.  No  trace  of  these 
foliations  is  seen  on  the  outer  surface  of  the  external  shell.  (See  PI. 
38,  c.) 

The  figures  of  A.  oblusus,  (PI.  35  and  PI.  36,)  show  the  relations  between 
the  external  shell  and  the  internal  transverse  partitions  of  an  Ammonite. 
PI.  35  represents  the  form  of  the  external  shell,  wherein  the  body  occupied 
the  space  extending  from  b.  to  c,  and  corresponding  with  the  same  letters 
in  PI.  36. 

This  species  has  a  single  series  of  strong  ribs  passing  obliquely  across  the 
shell  of  the  outer  chamber,  and  also  across  the  air-chambers.  From  c.  to  the 
inmost  extremity  of  the  shell,  these  ribs  intersect,  and  rest  on  the  sinuous 
edges  of  the  transverse  plates  which  form  the  air-chambers.  These  edges 
are  not  seen  where  the  outer  shell  is  not  removed*  (PI.  35,  e.)  A  small 
portion  of  the  shell  is  also  preserved  at  PI.  35,  b. 

From  d.  inwards,  these  sinuous  lines  mark  the  terminations  of  the  trans- 
verse plates  at  their  junction  with  the  external  shell ;  they  are  not  coincident 
with  the  direction  of  the  ribs,  and  therefore  more  effectually  co-operate  with 
them  in  adding  strength  to  the  shell,  by  affording  it  the  support  of  a  series 
of  various  props  and  buttresses,  set  nearly  at  right  angles  to  its  internal  sur- 
face. 

*  Thus  on  the  back  or  keel,  PI.  39,  from  V.  to  B.,  where  the  shell  is  nar- 
row,  and  the  strength  of  its  arch  greatest,  the  intervals  between  the  septa 
are  also  greatest,  and  their  sinuosities  comparatively  distant;  but  as  soon  as 
tlie  flattened  sides  of  the  same  shell,  PI.  38,  assume  a  form  that  offers  less 
resistance  to  external  pressure,  the  foliations  at  the  edges  of  the  transverse 
plates  approximate  more  closely  ;  as  in  the  flatter  forms  of  a  Gothic  roof,  the 
ribs  are  more  numerous,  and  the  tracery  more  complex,  than  in  the  stronger 
and  more  simple  forms  of  the  pointed  arch. 

The  same  principle  of  multiplying  and  extending  the  ramifications  of 
the  edges  of  the  transverse  plates,  is  applied  to  other  species  of  Ammo- 
nites, in  which  the  sides  are  flat,  and  require  a  similar  increase  of  sup- 
port ;  whilst  in  those  species  to  which  the  more  circular  form  of  the  sides 


264  COMPLEX    FORM    OF    AIR-CHAMBERS. 

At  Plate  41.  we  have  a  rare  and  most  beautiful  example 
of  the  preservation  of  the  transverse  plates  of  the  Am- 
monites giganteus  converted  to  calcedony,  v^^ithout  the 
introduction  of  any  earthy  matter  into  the  area  of  the  air- 
chambers.* 

This  shell  is  so  laid  open  as  to  show  the  manner  in  which 
each  transverse  plate  forms  a  tortuous  partition  between  the 
successive  air-chambers.  By  means  of  these  winding  plates, 
the  external  shell,  being  itself  a  continuous  arch,  is  farther 
fortified  with  a  succession  of  compound  arches,  passing 
transversely  across  its  internal  cavity;  each  arch  being 
disposed  in  the  form  of  a  double  tunnel,  vaulted  not  only  at 
the  top,  but  having  a  corresponding  series  of  inverted  arches 
along  the  bottom. 

We  can  scarcely  imagine  a  more  perfect  instrument  than 
this  for  affording  universal  resistance  to  external  pressure, 
in  which  the  greatest  possible  degree  of  lightness  is  com- 
bined with  the  greatest  strength. 

The  form  of  the  air-chambers  in  Ammonites  is  much 
more  complex  than  in  the  Nautili,  in  consequence  of  the 
tortuous  windings  of  the  foliated  margin  of  the  transverse 
plates.* 

gives  greater  strength  (as  in  A.  obtusus,  PI.  35.)  the  sinuosities  of  the  septa 
are  proportionately  few. 

It  seems  probable  that  some  improvement  might  be  made,  in  fortifying 
the  cylindrical  air-tube  of  Massey's  Patent  sounding  machine,  for  taking 
soundings  at  great  depths,  by  the  introduction  of  transverse  plates,  acting  on 
the  principle  of  the  transverse  plates  of  the  chambered  portion  of  the  shells 
of  Nautili  and  Ammonites,  or  rather  of  Orthoceratites,  and  Baculites,  (see 
PI.  44,  Figs.  4.  and  5.) 

*  PI.  42,  Fig.  1,  represents  the  cast  of  a  single  chamber  of  N.  Hexagonus, 
convex  inwards,  and  concave  outwards,  and  bounded,  at  its  margin  by  lines 
of  simple  curvature.  In  a  few  species  only  of  Nautilus  the  margin  is  undu- 
lated, (as  in  PI.  43,  Fig.  3,  4,)  but  it  is  never  jagged,  or  denticulated  like 
the  margin  of  the  casts  of  the  chambers  of  Ammonites. 

In  Ammonites,  the  chambers  have  a  double  curvature,  and  are,  at  their 
centre,  convex  outwards  (see  Pi.  36.  d.  and  PI.  3D.  d.  V.)  PI.  42,  Fig 
2,  represents  tlie  front  vievir  of  the  cast  of  a  single  chamber  of  A.  exca- 


SIPHUNCLE.  265 

Siphuncle. 

It  remains  to  consider  the  mechanism  of  the  Siphuncle, 
that  important  organ  of  hydrauUc  adjustment,  by  means  of 
■which  the  specific  gravity  of  the  Ammonites  was  regulated. 
Its  mode  of  operation  as  a  pipe,  admitting  or  rejecting  a 
tluid,  seems  to  have  been  the  same  as  that  we  have  already 
considered  in  the  case  of  Nautili.* 

vatus;  d,  is  the  dorsal  lobe  enclosing  the  siphuncle,  and  e.  f.  the  auxiliary 
ventral  lobes,  which  open  to  receive  the  inner  whorl  of  the  shell.  PI. 
42,  Fig.  3.  represents  a  east  of  three  chambers  of  A.  catena,  having  two 
transverse  plates  still  retained  in  their  proper  place  between  them.  The  fo- 
liated edges  of  these  transverse  plates  have  regulated  the  foliations  of  the 
calcareous  casts,  which,  after  the  shell  has  perished,  remain  locked  into  one 
another,  like  the  sutures  of  a  skull. 

The  substance  of  the  easts  in  all  these  cases  is  pure  crystalline  carbonate 
of  lime,  introduced  by  infiltration  tiirough  the  pores  of  the  decaying  shell. 
Each  species  of  Ammonite  has  its  peculiar  form  of  air-chambers,  depending 
on  the  specific  form  of  its  transverse  plates.  Analogous  variations  in  the 
form  of  the  air-chambers  are  co-extensive  with  the  entire  range  of  species 
in  the  family  of  Nautili. 

*  In  the  family  of  Ammonites,  the  place  of  the  Siphuncle  is  always 
upon  the  exterior,  or  dorsal  margin  of  the  transverse  plates,  (See  PI,  Sti. 
d.  e.  f.  g.  h.  i.,  and  PI.  42,  Fig.  3.  a,  b.)  It  is  conducted  through  them 
by  a  ring,  or  collar,  projecting  outwards  ;^is  collar  is  seen,  well  pre- 
served, at  the  margin  of  all  the  transverse  plates  in  PI.  36.  In  Nautili, 
the  collar  projects  uniformly  inwards,  and  its  place  is  either  at  the  centre, 
or  near  the  inner  margin  of  the  transverse  plates.  (See  PI.  31,  Fig.  1. 
y.  and  PI,  42.  1.) 

The  Siphuncle  represented  at  PI.  36,  is  preserved  in  a  black  carbonaceous 
state,  and  passes  from  the  bottom  of  the  external  chamber  (d.)  to  the  inner 
extremity  of  the  shell.  At  e.  f.  g.  h.  its  interior  is  exposed  by  section,  and 
appears  filled,  like  the  adjacent  air-chambers,  with  a  cast  of  pure  calcareous 
spar.  At  PI.  42.  Fig.  3.  b.  a  similar  cast  fills  the  tube  of  the  Siphuncle,  and 
also  the  air-chambers.  Here  again,  as  in  PI.  36,  its  diameter  is  contracted 
at  its  passage  through  the  collar  of  each  transverse  plate,  with  the  same  me- 
chanical advantages  as  in  the  Nautilus. 

The  shell  engraved  at  PI.  42.  Fig.  4.  from  a  specimen  found  by  the  Mar- 
quis  of  Northampton  in  the  Greensand  of  Earl  Stoke,  near  Devizes,  and  of 
which  Figs.  5.  6.  are  fragments,  is  remarkable  for  the  preservation  of  its  Si- 
phuncle, distended  and  empty,  and  still  fixed  in  its  place  along  the  interior 
VOL.  I.— 23 


266  SPECIFIC  GRAVITY  REGULATED  BY  SIPHtJNCLE. 

The  universal  prevalence  of  such  delicate  hydraulic  con* 
trivances  in  the  Siphuncle,  and  of  such  undeviating  and  sys- 
tematic union  of  buoyancy  and  strength  in  the  air-chambers,' 
throughout  the  entire  family  of  Ammonites  and  Nautili,  are 
among  the  most  prominent  instances  of  order  and  method? 
that  pervade  these  remains  of  former  races  that  inhabited 
the  ancient  seas ;  and  strange  indeed  must  be  the  construc- 
tion of  that  mind,  which  can  believe  that  all  this  order  and 
method  can  have  existed,  without  the  direction  and  agency 
of  some  commanding  and  controlling  Intelligence. 

Theory  of  Von  Buck. 

Besides  the  uses  we  have  attributed  to  the  sinuous  ar- 
rangement of  the  transverse  septa  of  Ammonites,  in  giving 
strength  to  the  shell  to  resist  the  pressure  of  deep  water,  M. 
Von  Buch  has  suggested  a   farther  use  of  the  lobes  thus 

of  the  dorsal  margin  of  the  shell.  This  Siphuncle,  and  also  the  shell  and 
transverse  plates,  are  converted  into  thin  chalcedony,  the  pipe  retaining 
in  these  empty  chambers  the  exact  form  and  position  it  held  in  the  living 
shell. 

The  entire  substance  of  the  pipe,  thus  perfectly  preserved  in  a  state 
that  rarely  occurs,  shows  no  kind  of  aperture  througii  which  any  fluid 
could  have  passed  to  the  interior  of  the  air-chambers.  The  same  con- 
tinuity of  the  Siphuncle  appears  at  PI.  42,  Fig.  3.  and  in  PI.  36,  and  in 
many  other  specimens.  Hence  we  infer,  that  nothing  could  pass  from  its 
interior  into  the  air-chambers,  and  that  the  office  of  the  Siphuncle  was  to 
be  more  or  less  distended  with  a  fluid,  as  in  the  Nautili,  for  the  purpose 
of  adjusting  the  specific  gravity,  so  as  to  cause  the  animal  to  float  or 
sink. 

Dr.  Prout  has  analyzed  a  portion  of  the  black  material  of  the  Siphuncle, 
which  is  so  frequently  preserved  in  Ammonites,  and  finds  it  to  consist  of 
animal  membrane  penetrated  by  carbonate  of  lime.  He  explains  the  black 
colour  of  these  pipes,  by  supposing  that  the  process  of  decomposition,  in 
which  the  oxygen  and  hydrogen  of  the  animal  membrane  escaped,  was  fa- 
vourable to  the  evolution  of  carbon,  as  happens  when  vegetables  are  con- 
verted into  coal,  under  the  process  of  mineralization.  The  lime  has  taken 
the  place  of  the  oxygen  and  hydrogen  which  existed  in  the  pipe  before  dc* 
composition. 


VON  buck's  theory  of  ammonites.  267 

formed  around  the  base  of  the  outer  chamber,  as  affording 
points  of  attachment  to  the  mantle  of  the  animal,  whereby 
it  was  enabled  to  fix  itself  more  steadily  within  its  shell. 
The  arrangement  of  these  lobes  varies  in  every  species  of 
Ammonite,  and  he  has  proposed  to  found  on  these  varia- 
tions, the  specific  character  of  all  the  shells  of  this  great 
family.* 

*  The  most  decided  distinction  between  Ammonites  and  Nautili,  is  founded 
on  the  place  of  tlie  siphon.  In  the  Ammonite,  this  organ  is  always  on  the 
hack  of  the  shell,  und  never  so  in  the  Nautilus.  Many  other  distinctions 
emanate  from  this  leading-  difference;  the  animal  of  the  Nautilus  having- 
its  pipe  usually  fixed  near  the  middle,  (See  PI.  31,  Fig.  1,)  or  towards  tlie 
■ventral  margin  (PI.  32,  Fig.  2,  and  PI.  42.  P"ig.  1.)  of  the  transverse  plates, 
is  thereby  attached  to  the  bottom  of  the  external  chamber,  whicii  is  gene- 
rally concave,  and  without  any  jagged  termination,  or  sinuous  flexure,  of  its 
margin.  As  the  siphon  in  Ammonites  is  comparatively  small,  and  always 
placed  on  the  dorsal  margin  (Pi.  36,  d.  and  Pi.  39,  d,)  it  would  have  less 
power  than  the  siphuncle  of  Nautili  to  keep  the  mantle  in  its  place  at  the 
bottom  of  the  shell;  another  kind  of  support  was  therefore  supplied  by  a 
number  of  depressions  along  tiie  margin  of  the  transverse  plate,  forming  a 
series  of  lobes  at  the  junction  of  this  plate  witii  the  internal  surface  of  the 
shell. 

The  innermost  of  these,  or  ventral  lobe,  is  placed  on  the  inner  margin  of 
the  shell  (PI.  39,  V.;)  opposite  to  this,  and  on  the  external  margin,  is  placed 
tlie  dorsal  lobe  (D,)  embracing  tlie  siphon  and  divided  by  it  into  two  diver- 
gent arms.  Heneath  the  dorsal  lobe  are  placed  the  superior  lateral  lobes 
(L,)  one  on  each  side  of  the  shell;  and  still  lower,  the  inferior  lateral  lobe, 
(1,)  next  above  the  ventral  lobe. 

The  separations  between  these  lobes  form  seats,  or  saddles,  upon  which 
the  mantle  of  the  animal  rested,  at  the  bottom  of  the  outer  chamber;  these 
saddles  are  distinguished  in  the  same  manner  as  the  lobes — that  between 
the  dorsal  and  superior  lateral  lobe,  forming  the  dorsal  saddle  (S.  d.,)  tiiat 
between  the  superior  and  inferior  lateral  lobes,  forming  the  lateral  saddle 
(S.  L.,)  and  that  between  the  inferior  lateral  and  ventral  lobe,  the  ventral 
saddle  (S.  V.)  This  general  disposition,  variously  modified,  pervades  all 
forms  of  Ammonites;  but  when,  as  in  PI.  39,  the  turn  of  the  shell  increases 
rapidly  in  width,  so  that  the  last  whorl  nearly,  or  enlireljs  covers  the  pre- 
ceding whorls,  the  additional  part  is  furnished  with  small  auxiliary  lobes, 
varying  with  the  growth  of  the  Ammonite  to  the  number  of  tliree,  four,  or 
five  pairs,     (Pi.  39,  a.  1,  a.  2,  a.  3,  a.  4,  a.  5.) 


268  PROOFS  OF  DESIGN  IN  AMMONITES. 

The  uses  ascribed  by  Von  Buch  to  the  lobes  of  Am- 
monites in  affording  attachment  to  the  base  of  the  mantle 
around  the  margin  of  the  transverse  plates,  would  in  no 
way  interfere  with  the  service  we  have  assigned  to  the  same 
lobes,  in  supporting  the  external  shell  against  the  pressure 
of  deep  water.  The  union  of  two  beneficial  results  from 
one  and  the  same  mechanical  expedient,  confirms  our  opi- 
nion of  the  excellence  of  the  workmanship,  and  increase  our 
admiration  of  the  Wisdom  in  which  it  was  contrived. 

Conclusion. 

On  examining  the  proofs  of  Contrivance  and  Design  that 
pervade  the  testaceous  remains  of  the  family  of  Ammonites, 
we  find,  in  every  species,  abundant  evidence  of  minute  and 
peculiar  mechanisms,  adapting  the  shell  to  the  double  pur- 
pose of  acting  as  a  float,  and  of  forming  a  protection  to  the 
body  of  the  inhabitant. 

All  the  lobes,  as  they  dip  inward,  are  subdivided  by  numerous  dentations, 
which  afford  points  of  attachment  to  the  mantle  of  the  animal;  thus  each 
lobe  is  flanked  by  a  series  of  accessory  lobes,  and  these  again  arc  provided 
with  farther  symmetrical  dentations,  the  extremities  of  which  produce  all 
the  beautiful  appearances  of  complicated  foliage,  which  prevail  through  the 
family  of  Ammonites,  and  of  which  we  have  a  striking  example  on  the  sur- 
face of  PI.  38. 

The  extremities  of  the  dentations  are  always  sharp  and  pointed,  inwards, 
towards  the  air-chamber,  (PI.  38,  d.  1.;)  but  are  smooth  and  rounded  up- 
wards towards  the  body  of  the  animal,  (PI.  38,  S.  S.,)  and  thus  the  jagged 
terminations  of  these  lobes  may  have  afforded  holdfasts  whereby  the  base  of 
the  mantle  could  fix  itself  firmly,  and  as  it  were  take  root,  around  the  bottom 
of  the  external  chamber. 

No  such  dentations  exist  in  any  species  of  Nautilus.  In  tlic  N.  Pompi- 
lius,  Mr.  Owen  has  shown  that  the  base  of  the  mantle  adheres  to  the  outer 
shell,  near  its  junction  with  the  transverse  plate  by  means  of  a  strong  horny 
girdle  ;  a  similar  contrivance  probably  existed  also  in  all  the  fossil  species 
of  Nautili.  The  sides  of  the  mantle  also  of  the  N.  Pompilius  are  fixed  to 
the  sides  of  the  great  external  chamber  by  two  strong  broad  lateral  muscles, 
the  impressions  of  which  are  visible  in  most  specimens  of  this  shell. 


CONCLUSIONS.  269 

As  the  animal  increased  in  bulk,  and  advanced  along  the 
outer  chamber  of  the  shell,  the  spaces  left  behind  it  were 
successively  converted  into  air-chambers,  simultaneously 
increasing  the  power  of  the  float.  This  float,  being  regu- 
lated by  a  pipe,  passing  through  the  whole  series  of  the 
chambers,  formed  an  hydraulic  instrument  of  extraordinary 
delicacy,  by  which  the  animal  could,  at  pleasure,  control 
its  ascent  to  the  surface,  or  descent  to  the  bottom  of  the 
sea. 

To  creatures  that  sometimes  floated,  a  thick  and  heavy 
shell  would  have  been  inapplicable ;  and  as  a  thin  shell,  en- 
closing air,  would  be  exposed  to  various,  and  often  intense 
degrees  of  pressure  at  the  bottom,  we  find  a  series  of  pro- 
visions to  afford  resistance  to  such  pressure,  in  the  mechani- 
cal construction  both  of  the  external  shell,  and  of  the  in- 
ternal transverse  plates  which  formed  the  air-chambers. 
First,  the  shell  is  made  up  of  a  tube,  coiled  round  itself  and 
externally  convex.  Secondly,  it  is  fortified  by  a  series  of 
ribs  and  vaultings  disposed  in  the  form  of  arches  and  domes 
on  the  convex  surface  of  this  tube,  and  still  farther  addmg 
to  its  strength.  Thirdly,  the  transverse  plates  that  form  the 
air-chambers,  supply  also  a  continuous  succession  of  sup- 
ports, extending  their  ramifications,  with  many  mechanical 
advantages,  beneath  those  portions  of  the  shell  whicii,  being 
weakest,  were  most  in  need  of  them. 

If  the  existence  of  contrivance  proves  the  exercise  of 
mind  ;  and  if  higher  degrees  of  perfection  in  mechanism  are 
proof  of  more  exalted  degrees  of  intellect  in  the  Author  from 
whom  they  proceeded  ;  the  beautiful  examples  which  we 
find  in  the  petrified  remains  of  these  chambered  shells,  afford 
evidence  coeval  and  coextensive  with  the  mountains  where- 
in they  are  entombed,  attesting  the  Wisdom  in  which  such 
exquisite  contrivances  originated,  and  setting  forth  the  Pro- 
vidence and  Care  of  the  Creator,  in  regulating  the  structure 
of  every  creature  of  his  hand. 

23* 


270  NAUTILUS    SYPHQ,    ETC.. 


SECTION  V. 

NAUTILUS    SYPHO,    AND    NAUTILUS    ZIC    ZAC. 

The  name  of  Nautilus  Sypho*  has  been  applied  to  a  ver]. 
curious  and  beautiful  chambered  shell  found  in  the  Tertiary 
strata  at  Dax,  near  Bourdeaux;  and  that  of  Nautilus  Zic 
Zac  to  a  cognate  shell  from  the  London  clay.  (See  P1..43» 
Figs.  1,  2,  3,  4.) 

These  fossil  shells  present  certain  deviations  from  the 
trdinary  characters  of  the  genus  Nautilus,  whereby  they 
in  some  degree  partake  of  the  structure  of  an  Ammonite. 

These  deviations  involve  a  series  of  compensations  and 
pecuhar  contrivances,  in  order  to  render  the  shell  efficient 
in  its  double  office  of  acting  as  a  float,  and  also  as  a  defence 
and  chamber  of  residence  to  the  animal  by  which  it  was 
constructed. 

Some  details  of  these  contrivances,  relating  to  the  Nauti- 
lus Sypho  will  be  found  in  the  subjoined  note.f 

*  This  shell  has  been  variously  described  by  the  names  of  Ammonites 
Atun,  Nautilus  Sypho,  and  N.  Zonarius.  (See  M.  de  Basterot.  Mem.  Geol- 
de  Bourdeaux.) 

t  The  transverse  plates,  (PI.  43,  Fig.  1,  a.  a'.  a2«,)  present  a  peculiarity  of 
structure  in  llie  prolongation  of  the  collar,  or  siphuncular  aperture  entirely 
across  the  area  of  the  air-chambers,  so  that  tiie  whole  series  of  transverse 
plates  are  connected  in  one  continuous  spiral  chain.  This  union  is  effected 
by  the  enlargement  and  elongation  of  the  collar  for  the  passage  of  the 
siphuncle  into  the  form  of  a  long  and  broad  funnel,  the  point  of  which  b.  fits 
closely  into  the  neck  of  the  funnel  next  beneath  it,  g.  whilst  its  inner  margin, 
resting  upon  the  arch  of  the  subjacent  whorl  of  the  shell,  transfers  to  this 
iLTch  a  portion  of  the  external  pressure  upon  the  transverse  plates,  thereby 
adding  to  their  strength. 

As  this  structure  renders  it  impossible  for  the  flexible  siphuncle  to 
expand  itself  into  the  area  of  the  air-chambers,  as  in  other  Nautili  and 
in  Aintnonites,  the  diameter  of  each  funnel  is  made  large  enough  to  allow 


CONTRIVANCES    IN    NAUTILUS    SYPHO.  271 

As  the  place  of  the  siphon  in  this  species  is  upon  the  inter- 
nal margin  of  the  transverse  plates  (PI.  43,  Fig.  2,  b',  b^,  b^) 
it  had  less  power  than  the  more  central  siphuncle  of  the 
Nautilus-  to  attach  the  mantle  of  the  animal  to  the  bottom  of 
the  outer  chamber.  For  this  defect  we  find  a  compensation? 
resembling  that  which  Von  Buch  considers  to  have  been 
afforded  by  the  lobes  of  Ammonites  to  the  inhabitants  of 
those  shells.  This  compensation  will  be  illustrated  by  a 
comparison  of  the  lobes  in  N.  Sypho  (PI.  43,  Fig.  2.,)  with 
a  similar  provision  in  the  Nautilus  Zic  Zac  (PI.  43,  Figs. 
^,  4.*) 

space  within  it  for  tiie  distension  of  the  siphuncle,  by  a  sufRcient  quantity 
of  fluid  to  cause  the  aniuial  to  sink. 

At  each  articulation  of  the  funnels,  the  diameter  of  the  siphuncle  is  con- 
tracted, as  the  siphuncles  of  Ammonites  and  Nautili  are  contracted  at  their 
passage  througli  the  collars  of  their  transverse  plates. 

Another  point  in  the  organization  of  the  siphuncle  is  illustrated  by  this 
shell,  namely,  the  existence  of  a  soft  calcareous  sheath,  (PI.  43,  ¥'ig.  1 ,  b,  c. 
d.,)  analogous  to  that  of  the  N.  Pompilius,  (PI.  31,  Fig.  1,  a.  b.  c.  d.,)  between 
each  shelly  funnel  and  the  membranous  pipe  or  siphuncle  enclosed  within  it. 
At  PI.  43,  Fig.  1,  b,  we  have  a  section  of  this  sheath  folding  round  the 
Sinaller  extremity  of  the  funnel  a'.  From  c.  to  d,  it  lines  the  inside  of  the 
subjacent  funnel  a^;  and  from  d.  continues  downwards  to  the  termination  of 
the  funnel  a2,  on  the  inside  of  e.  At  c,  and  f,  we  see  the  upper  termination 
of  two  perfect  sheaths,  similar  to  that  of  which  a  section  is  represented  at  b. 
c.  d.  This  sheath,  from  its  insertion  between  the  point  of  the  upper  siphon 
and  mouth  of  the  lower  one,  (Fig.  1,  c.,)  must  have  acted  as  a  collar,  inter- 
cepting all  communication  between  the  interior  of  the  shelly  siphuncular 
tube  and  the  air-chambers.  The  area  of  this  shelly  tube  probably  may  be 
sufficient,  not  only  to  have  contained  the  distended  siphuncle,  but  also  to 
;^llo,w  it  to  be  surrounded  with  a  volume  of  air,  the  elasticity  of  which  would 
act  in  forcing  back  the  pericardial  fluid  from  the  siphuncle,  in  the  same 
manner  as  we  have  supposed  the  air  to  act  within  the  chambers  of  the  N . 
Pompilius. 

*  On  each  side  of  the  transverse  plate  in  both  these  species  there  is 
an  undulation,  or  sinus,  producing  lobes  (I'l.  43,  Fig.  2.  a',  a^,  a^,  Fig. 
3.  a.  and  Fig.  4.  a.  b.)  There  is  also  a  deep  backward  curvature  of  the 
two  ventral  lobes,  Fig.  4.  c.  c.  All  these  lobes  may  have  acted  con- 
jointly witli  the  siphuncle,  to  give  firm  attachment  to  the  mantle  of  the 
animal  at  the  bottom  of  the  outer  chamber.    The  shell  Fig,  1.  is  brokeu. 


272  COMPENSATIONS    AND    LINKS. 

A  still  more  important  use  of  the  lobes  formed  by  the 
transverse  plates  both  of  the  N.  Sypho  and  N.  Zic  Zac, 
may  be  found  in  the  strength  which  they  impart  to  the 
sides  of  the  external  shell  (see  PI.  43,  Figs.  1,  2,  3,  4.,) 
underpropping  their  flattest  and  weakest  part,  so  as  to  resist 
pressure  more  effectually  than  if  the  transverse  plates  had 
been  curved  simply,  as  in  N.  Pompilius.  One  cause  which 
rendered  some  such  compensation  necessary,  may  be  found 
in  the  breadth  of  the  intervals  between  each  transverse 
plate  ;  the  weakness  resulting  from  this  distance,  being  com- 
pensated by  the  introduction  of  a  single  lobe,  acting  on  the 
same  principle  as  the  more  numerous  and  complex  lobes  in 
the  genus  Ammonite. 

The  N.  Sypho  and  N.  Zic  Zac  seem,  therefore,  to  form 
Links  between  the  two  great  genera  of  Nautilus  and  Am- 
monite, in  which  an  intermediate  system  of  mechanical 
contrivances  is  borrowed,  as  it  were,  from  the  mechanics 
of  the  Ammonite,  and  applied  to  the  Nautilus.  The 
adoption  of  lobes,  analogous  to  the  lobes  of  the  Ammo- 
nite, compensating  the  disadvantages,  that  would  other- 
wise have  followed  from  the  marginal  position  of  the 
siphuncle  in  these  two  species,  and  the  distances  of  their 
transverse  plates,* 

in  such  a  manner,  that  no  portion  of  any  lateral  lobe  is  visible  on  the 
side  here  represented.  At  Fig,  2.  a',  we  see  the  projection  of  the 
lateral  lobes,  on  each  side  of  the  convex  internal  surface  of  a  transverse 
plate ;  at  a-  we  sec  the  interior  of  the  same  lobes,  on  the  concave  side 
of  another  transverse  plate;  and  at  a^^  the  points  of  a  third  pair  of  lobes 
attached  to  the  sides  of  the  largest  air-chamber  that  remains  in  this  frag- 
ment. 

*  In  some  of  the  most  early  forms  of  Ammonites  which  we  find  in  the 
Transition  strata,  c.  g.  A.  Henslowi,  A.  Striatus,  and  A.  Sphericus,  (Pi, 
40,  Figs.  1,  2,  and  3,)  the  lobes  were  few,  and  nearly  of  the  same  form 
as  the  single  lobe  of  the  Nautilus  Sypho,  and  of  N.  Zic  zac;  like  tliem 
also  the  margin  was  simple  and  destitute  of  fringed  edges.  The  A. . 
nodosus  (PI.  40,  Figs.  4  and  5.,)  which  is  peculiar  to  the  early  Secondary 
depositcs  of  the  Muschelkalk,  offers  an  example  of  an  intermediate  state, 


SHELLS    ALLIED    TO    NAUTILUS.  273 

It  is  a  curious  fact,  that  contrivances,  similar  to  those 
which  existed  in  some  of  the  most  early  forms  of  Ammonite, 
should  have  been  again  adopted  in  some  of  the  most  recent 
species  of  fossil  Nautili,  in  order  to  afford  similar  compensa- 
tion for  weakness  that  would  otherwise  have  been  produced 
by  aberrations  from  the  normal  structure  of  the  genus  Nau- 
tilus. All  this  seems  inexpUcable  on  any  theory  which 
would  exclude  the  interference  of  controlling  Intelligence^ 


SECTION  YI. 

CHAMBERED    SHELLS    ALLIED    TO    NAUTILUS    AND    AMMONITE. 

We  have  reason  to  infer,  from  the  fact  of  the  recent  N. 
Pompilius  being  an  external  shell,  that  all  fossil  shells  of  the 
great  and  ancient  family  of  Nautili,  and  of  the  still  more 
numerous  family  of  Ammonites,  were  also  external  shells, 
enclosing  in  their  outer  chamber  the  body  of  a  Cephalopod- 
We  farther  learn,  from  Peron's  discovery  of  the  shell  of  a 
Spirula  partially  enclosed  within  the  body  of  a  Sepia,*  (see 
PI.  44,  Fig.  1,  2,)  that  many  of  those  genera  of  fossil  cham- 
bered shells,  which,  like  the  Spirula,  do  not  terminate  exter- 
nally in  a  wide  chamber,  were  probably  internal,  or  partially 
enclosed  shells,  serving  the  office  of  a  float,  constructed  on 
the  same  principles  as  the  float  of  the  Spirula.  In  the  class 
of  fossil  shells  thus  illustrated  by  the  discovery  of  the  animal 
enclosing  the  Spirula,  we  may  include  the  following  extinct 
families,  occurring  in  various  positions  from  the  earliest 
Transition  strata  to  the  most  recent  Secondary  formations:. 

ia  which   the  fringed  edge  is  partially   introduced,  on  the  descending  oi 
inward  portions  only,  of  the  lobated  edge  of  tlie  transverse  plates. 

*  The  uncertainty  which  has  arisen  respecting  the  animal  which  con- 
structs the  Spirula,  from  the  circumstance  of  the  specimen  discovered  by 


274  O-RTHOCERATITE.- 

-r-Orthoceratite,  Lituite,  Baculite,  Hamite,  Scaphite,  Turri- 
lite,  Nummulite,  Belemnite.* 


Orthoceratite,  PL  44,  Fig.  4. 

The  Orthoceratites  (so  called  from  their  usual  form, — 
that  of  a  straight  horn)  began  their  existence  at  the  same 
early  period  with  the  Nautili,  in  the  seas  which  deposited 
the  Transition  strata ;  and  are  so  nearly  allied  to  them  in 
structure,  that  we  may  conclude  they  performed  a  similar 
function  as  floats  of  Cephalopodous  Mollusks.  This  genus 
contains  many  species  which  abound  in  the  strata  of  the 
Transition  series,  and  is  one  of  those  which,  having  been 
called  into  existence  amongst  the  earliest  inhabitants  of  our 
planet,  was  at  an  early  period  also  consigned  to  almost  total 
destruction-! 

An  Orthoceratite  (see  PL  44,  Fig.  4)  is,  like  the  Nautilus, 
a  multilocular  shell,  having  its  chambers  separated  by  trans- 
verse plates,  concave  externally,  and  internally  convex ;  and 
pierced,  either  at  the  centre  or  towards  tiie  margin,  by  a 
Siphuncle,  (a.)  This  pipe  varies  in  size,  more  than  that  of 
any  other  muhilocular  shell,  viz.  from  one-tenth  to  one-half 
of  the  diameter  of  the  shell ;  and  often  assumes  a  tumid 
form,  which  would  admit  of  the  distension  of  a  membranous 

Peron  having  been  lost,  is  in  some  degree  removed  by  Captain  King's  dis- 
covery of  another  of  these  shells,  attached  to  a  fragment  of  tlie  mantle  of  an 
animal  of  unknown  species  resembling  a  Sepia,  which  I  have  seen  in  the 
possession  of  Mr.  Owen,  at  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons,  London, 

*  In  the  genus  Lituite,  Orthoceratite,  and  Belemnite,  PI.  44,  /.  3,  4,  17, 
the  simple  curvature  of  the  transverse  plates  resembles  the  character  of  the 
Nautilus.  In  the  Baculite,  Hamite,  Scaphite,  and  Turrilite,  PI.  44,  Fig.  5' 
8,  12,  13,  14,  15,  the  sinuous  foldings  and  foliated  edges  of  tlie  transverse 
plates  resemble  those  of  the  Ammonites. 

t  See  D'Orbigny's  Tableau  Rletiiodique  des  Ccphalopodos. 

Tiiere  arc,  I  believe,  only  two  exceptions  yet  known  to  the  general 
fact,  that  the  genus  Orthoceratite  became  extinct  before  the  deposition 
of  the  Secondary  strata  had  commenced.  The  most  recent  rocks  in 
which  they  have  been   noticed,  are  a  small  and   problematical  species  ijs 


ORTHOCERATITE.      LITUITE.  275 

siphon.  The  base  of  the  shell  beyond  the  last  plate  presents 
a  sweUing  cavity,  wherein  the  body  of  the  animal  seems  to 
have  been  partly  contained. 

The  Orthoceratites  are  str»»ight  and  conical,  and  bear  the 
same  relation  to  the  Nautili  which  Baculites  (see  PI.  44,  Fig. 
.5)  bear  to  Ammonites ;  the  Orthoceratites,  with  their  simple 
transverse  septa,  resembhng  straight  Nautili ;  and  the  Bacu- 
lites, with  a  sinuous  septa,  having  the  appearance  of  straight 
Ammonites.  They  vary  considerably  in  external  figure, 
and  also  in  size ;  some  of  the  largest  species  exceeding  a 
yard  in  length,  and  half  a  foot  in  diameter.  A  single  speci- 
men has  been  known  to  contain  nearly  seventy  air-chambers. 
The  body  of  the  animal  which  required  so  large  a  float  to 
balance  it,  must  have  greatly  exceeded,  in  all  its  proportions, 
the  most  gigantic  of  our  recent  Cephalopods ;  and  the  vast 
number  of  Orthoceratites  that  are  occasionally  crowded  to- 
gether in  a  single  block  of  stone,  shows  ho^l^  abundantly 
they  must  have,  swarmed  in  the  waters  of  the  early  seas. 
These  shells  are  found  in  the  greatest  numbers  in  blocks  of 
marble,  of  a  dark  red  colour,  from  the  transition  Limestone 
of  Oeland,  which  some  years  ago  was  imported  largely  to 
various  parts  of  Europe  for  architectural  purposes.* 

Lituite* 

Together  with  the  Orthoceratite,  in  the  Transition  Lime- 
stone of  Oeland,  there  occurs  a  cognate  genus  of  Cham- 

f  he  Lias  at  Lyme,  and  another  species  in  Alpine  Limestone  of  the  Oolite  for- 
mation, at  Halstadt,  in  the  Tyrol. 

*  Part  of  the  pavement  in  Hampton  Court  Palace,  that  of  the  hall  of 
University  College,  Oxford,  and  several  tombs  of  the  kings  of  Poland  in 
the  cathedral  at  Cracow,  arc  formed  of  this  marble,  in  which  many  shells 
of  Orthoceratites  are  discoverable.  The  largest  known  species  are  found 
in  the  Carboniferous  limestone  of  Closeburn,  in  Dumfrieshire,  being  nearly 
of  the  size  of  a  man's  thigh.  The  presence  of  such  gigantic  Mollusks 
seems  to  indicate  a  highly  exalted  temperature,  in  the  then  existing  cli- 
mate of  these  northern  regions  of  Europe.  See  Sowerby's  Min.  Con.  Pk 
24&. 


276  BACULITE. 

bered  shells,  called  Lituites.  (PI.  44,  Fig.  3.)  These  are 
partially  coiled  up  into  a  spiral  form  at  their  smaller  ex- 
tremity, whilst  their  larger  end  is  continued  into  a  straight 
tube,  of  considerable  length,  separated  by  transverse  plates, 
concave  outwards,  and  perforated  by  a  siphuncle  (a.)  As 
these  Lituites  closely  resemble  the  shell  of  the  recent  Spirula 
(PI.  44,  Fig.  2,)  their  office  may  have  been  the  same,  in  the 
economy  of  some  extinct  Cephalopod. 

Baculite. 

As  in  rocks  of  the  Transition  series,  the  form  of  a  straight 
Nautilus  is  presented  by  the  genus  Orthoceratite,  so  we  find 
in  the  Cretaceous  formation  alone,  the  remains  of  a  genus 
which  may  be  considered  as  a  straight  Ammonite.  (See 
PI.  44,  Fig.  5.) 

The  bacuUte  (so  called  from  its  resemblance  to  a  straight 
staff)  is  a  conical  elongated,  and  symmetrical  shell,  de- 
pressed laterally,  and  divided  into  numerous  chambers  by 
transverse  plates,  hke  those  in  the  Ammonite,  are  sinuous, 
and  terminated  by  foliated  dentations  at  their  junction  with 
the  external  shell ;  being  thus  separated  into  dorsal,  ventral, 
and  lateral  lobes  and  saddles,  analogous  to  those  of  Ammo- 
nites.* 

It  is  curious,  that  this  straight  modification  of  the  form 
of  Ammonites  should  not  have  appeared,  until  this  Family 
had  arrived  at  the  last  stage  of  the  Secondary  deposites, 
throughout  which  it  had  occupied  so  large  an  extent ;  and 
that,   after  a   comparatively  short    duration,  the   Baculite 

•  The  externa!  chamber  (a)  is  larger  than  the  rest,  and  swelling ;  and  ca- 
pable of  containing  a  considerable  portion  of  the  animal.  The  outer  shell 
was  thin,  and  strengthened,  like  the  Ammonite,  by  oblique  ribs.  Near  the 
posterior  margin  of  the  shell,  the  transverse  plates  are  pierced  by  a  Sipiiuncle 
(PI.  44,  S"*,  c.)  This  position  of  tiie  Siphuncle,  and  the  sinuous  form  and 
denticulated  edges  of  the  transverse  plates,  are  characters  which  the  Bacu- 
lite possesses  in  common  with  the  Ammonite. 


HAMITE.  277 

should  have  become  extinct,  simultaneously  with  the  last 
of  the  Ammonites,  at  the  termination  of  the  Chalk  forma- 
tion. 

Hamite. 

If  we  imagine  a  Baculite  to  be  bent  round  near  its  centre, 
until  the  smaller  extremity  became  nearly  parallel  to  its 
larger  end,  it  would  present  the  most  simple  form  of  that 
cognate  genus  of  chambered  shells,  which,  from  their  fre- 
quently assuming  this  hooked  form,  have  been  called  Ha- 
mites.  At  PI.  44,  Fig.  9,  11,  represent  portions  of  Hamites 
which  have  this  most  simple  curvature;  other  species  of 
this  genus  have  a  more  tortuous  form,  and  are  either  close- 
ly coiled  up,  like  the  small  extremity  of  a  Spirula,  (PI. 
44,  Fig.  2,)  or  disposed  in  a  more  open  spiral.  (PL  44, 
Fig.  8.*) 

It  is  probable  that  some  of  these  Hamites  were  partly 
internal,  and  partly  external  shells ;  where  the  spines  are 
present,  the  portion  so  armed  was  probably  external.  Nine 
species  of  Hamites  occur  in  the  single  formation  of  Gault 
or  Speeton  clay  immediately  below  the  chalk,  near  Scar- 

•  Both  these  forms  of  Hamite  bear  the  same  relation  to  Ammonites  that 
Lituites  bear  to  Nautili;  each  being  nearly  such  as  shells  of  these  genera 
would  respectively  present,  if  partially  unrolled.  See  Pliillips'  Geol.  York- 
shire, PI.  1,  Figs.  22,  29,  30. 

Baculites  and  Hamites  have  two  characters  which  connect  them  with  Am- 
monites; first,  the  position  of  the  Siplumcle,  on  the  back,  or  outer  margin 
of  the  shell,  (PI.  14,  Figs.  5'',  c.  8%  a.  10,  11,  a.  12,  a.  13,  a.;)  secondly,  the 
foliated  character  of  the  margin  of  the  transverse  plates,  at  the  junction  with 
the  external  shell.  (PI.  44,  Fig.  5,  8,  12,  13.)  The  external  shell  of 
Hamites  is  also  fortified  by  tran.sverse  folds  or  ribs,  increasing  the  strength 
both  of  the  outer  chambers  and  of  the  air-chambers,  upon  the  same  princi- 
ples that  we  have  pointed  out  in  the  case  of  Ammonites.  (See  Pi.  44,  Fig. 
8,9,11,  12,  13.) 

In  certain  species  of  Hamites,  as  in  certain  Ammonites,  the  marginal 
Siphuncle  has  a  keel-shaped  pipe  raised  over  it.  Others  have  a  series  of 
spines  on  each  side  of  the  back.      (Pi.  44,  Fig.  9,  10.) 

VOL.  I. — 24 


278  SCAPHITE.       TURRILITE. 

borough.     (See  Phillips'  Geology  of  Yorkshire.)     Some  of 
the  larger  species  equal  a  man's  wrist  in  diameter.* 


Scaphite. 

The  Scaphites  constitute  a  genus  of  EUiptical  chambered 
shells,  (see  PI.  44,  Fig.  15, 16,)  of  remarkable  beauty,  which 
are  almost  peculiar  to  the  chalk  formation ;  they  are  so 
rolled  up  at  each  extremity,  whilst  their  central  part  conti- 
nues nearly  in  a  horizontal  plane,  as  to  resemble  the  ancient 
form  of  a  boat ;  whence  the  name  of  Scaphite  has  been  ap- 
plied to  them.f 

It  is  remarkable  that  those  approximations  to  the  struc- 
ture of  Ammonites  which  are  presented  by  Scaphites  and 
Hamites,  should  have  appeared  but  very  rarely,  and  this  in 
the  lias  and  inferior  oohte,J  until  the  period  of  the  cretaceous 
formations,  when  the  entire  type  of  the  ancient  and  long  con- 
tinued genus  Ammonite  was  about  to  become  extinct. 

Turrilite. 

The  last  genus  I  shall  mention,  allied  to  the  family  of  Am- 
monites, is  composed  of  spiral  shells,  of  another  form,  coiled 

*  The  Hamites  grandls,  (Soweiby,  M.  C.  593,)  from  tlie  Greensand  at 
Hythe,  is  of  these  large  dimensions. 

t  The  inner  extremity  of  the  Scapliite  is  coiled  up  like  tliat  of  an  Ammo- 
nite, (Fl.  44,  Fig.  15,  c.  and  16)  in  whorls  embracing  one  another;  the  last 
and  outer  chamber  (a)  is  larger  than  all  the  rest  together,  and  is  sometimes 
(probably  in  the  adult  state)  folded  back  so  as  to  touch  the  spire,  and 
thereby  materially  to  contract  the  mouth,  which  is  narrower  than  the  last  or 
outer  chamber.  (Pi.  44,  Fig.  15,  b.)  In  this  character  of  the  external  cham- 
ber, the  Scaphite  differs  from  the  Ammonite;  in  all  other  respects  it  es- 
sentially agrees  with  it;  its  transverse  plates  being  numerous,  and  pierced  by 
a  marginal  Siplumcle,  at  the  back  of  the  shell  (Fig.  16,  a.;)  and  their  edges 
being  lobated,  deeply  cut,  and  foliated.     (Fig.  15,  c.) 

t  The  Scaphites  bifurcatus  occurs  in  the  Lias  of  Wurtemburg,  and  Ha- 
mites annulatus  in  the  Inferior  oolite  of  France. 


UNITY  OF  DESIGN.  879 

around  themselves  in  the  form  of  a  windmg  tower,  gradu- 
ally diminishing  towards  the  apex  (PL  44,  Fig.  14.*) 

The  same  essential  characters  and  functions  pervade  the 
Turrilites,  which  we  have  been  tracing  in  the  Scaphites, 
Hamites,  Baculites,  and  Ammonites.  In  each  of  these 
genera  it  is  the  exterior  form  of  the  shell  that  is  principally 
varied,  whilst  the  interior  is  similarly  constructed  in  all  of 
them,  to  act  as  a  float,  subservient  to  the  movements  of  Ce- 
phalopodous  Mollusks.  We  have  seen  that  the  Ammonites, 
beginning  with  the  Transition  strata,  appear  in  all  forma- 
tions, until  the  termination  of  the  Chalk,  whilst  the  Hamites 
and  Scaphites  are  very  rare,  and  the  Turrilites  and  Bacu- 
lites do  not  appear  at  all,  until  the  commencement  of  the 
Cretaceous  formations.  Having  thus  suddenly  appeared, 
they  became  as  suddenly  extinct  at  the  same  period  with 
the  Ammonites,  yielding  up  their  place  and  office  in  the 
economy  of  nature  to  a  lower  order  of  Carnivorous  mol- 
lusks in  the  Tertiary  and  existing  seas. 

In  the  review  we  have  taken  of  genera  in  the  family  of 
Chambered  shells,  allied  to  Nautilus,  and  Ammonite,  we 
have  traced  a  connected  series  of  delicate  and  nicely  ad- 
justed instruments,  adapted  to  peculiar  uses  in  the  economy 
of  every  animal  to  which  they  were  attached.  These  all 
attest  undeviating  Unity  of  design,  pervading  many  varied 
adaptations  of  the  same  principle;  and  afibrd  cumulative 
evidence,  not  only  of  the  exercise  of  Intelligence,  but  also 
of  the  same  Intelligence  through  every  period  of  time,  in 
which  these  extinct  races  inhabited  the  ancient  deep. 

*  The  shells  of  the  Turrilites  are  extremely  thin,  and  their  exterior  is 
adorned  and  strengthened  (like  that  of  Ammonites,)  with  ribs  and  tubercles. 
In  all  other  respects  also,  except  the  manner  in  which  they  are  coiled  up, 
they  resemble  Ammonites;  their  interior  being  divided  into  numerous 
chambers  by  transverse  plates,  which  are  foliated  at  their  edges,  and  pierced 
by  a  siphuncle,  near  the  dorsal  margin.  (PI.  44,  Fig.  14,  a,  a.)  Tiie  outer 
chamber  is  large. 


280  BELEMNITBS. 


SECTION  VII. 


Belemnite. 

We  shall  conclude  our  account  of  chambered  shells  witli 
a  brief  notice  of  Belemnites.  This  extensive  family  occurs 
only  in  a  fossil  state,  and  its  range  is  included  within  that 
series  of  rocks  which  in  our  section  are  called  Secondary.* 
These  singular  bodies  are  connected  with  the  other  families 
of  fossil  chambered  shells  we  have  already  considered ;  but 
differ  from  them  in  having  their  chambers  enclosed  within  a 
cone-shaped  fibrous  sheath,  the  form  of  which  resembles  the 
point  of  an  arrow,  and  has  given  origin  to  the  name  they 
bear. 

M.  de  Blainville,  in  his  valuable  memoir  on  Belemnites, 
(1827)  has  given  a  list  of  ninety-one  authors,  from  Theo- 
phrastus  downwards,  who  have  written  on  this  subject.  The 
most  intelligent  among  them  agree  in  supposing  these  bodies 
to  have  been  formed  by  Cephalopods  allied  to  the  modern 
Sepia.  Voltz,  Zieten»  Raspail,  and  Count  Munster,  have 
subsequently  published  important  memoirs  upon  the  same 
subject.  The  principal  English  notices  on  Belemnites  are 
those  of  Miller,  Geol.  Trans.  N.  S.  London,  1826,  and  that 
of  Sowerby,  in  his  Min.  Concha  vol.  vi.  p.  169,  et  seq, 

A  Belemnite  was  a  compound  internal  shell,  made  up  of 
three  essential  parts,  which  are  rarely  found  together  in  per- 
fect preservation. 

First,  a  fibro-calcareous  cone  shaped  shell,  terminating  at 
its  larger  end  in  a  hollow  cone  (PL  44,  Fig.  17.  and  PL  44', 
Fig.  7,  9,  10,  11,  12.t) 

*  The  lowest  strata  in  wliich  Belemnites  are  said  to  have  been  found  is 
the  IMuschelkalk,  and  the  highest  the  upper  Chalk  of  Maestricht. 

■j-  Tins  part  of  the  Belemnite  is  usually  called  the  sheatJt,  ox  guard:  it 


CHAMBERED  ALVEOLUS.  281 

Secondly,  a  conical  thin  horny  sheath,  or  cup,  com- 
mencing from  the  base  of  the  hollow  cone  of  the  fibro-cal- 
careous  sheath,  and  enlarging  rapidly  as  it  extends  outwards 
to  a  considerable  distance.  PI.  44',  Fig.  7,  b,  e,  e',  e".  This 
horny  cup  formed  the  anterior  chamber  of  the  Belemnite, 
and  contained  the  ink-bag,  (c,)  and  some  other  viscera.* 

Thirdly,  a  thin  conical  internal  chambered  shell,  called 
the  Alveolus,  placed  within  the  calcareous  hollow  cone 
above  described.  (PI.  44,  Fig.  17,  a.  and  PI.  44',  Fig.  7, 
b,  b'.) 

This  chambered  portion  of  the  shell  is  closely  allied  in 
form,  and  in  the  principles  of  its  construction,  both  to  the 
Nautilus  and  Orthoceratite.  (See  PI.  44,  Fig.  17,  a,  b.  and 
Fig.  4.)  It  is  divided  by  thin  transverse  plates  into  a  series 
of  narrow  air-chambers,  or  areolcB,  resembling  a  pile  of 
watch-glasses,    gradually   diminishing   towards    the    apex. 

is  made  up  of  a  pile  of  cones,  placed  one  within  another,  having  a  common 
axis,  and  the  largest  enclosing  all  the  rest.  (See  PI.  44,  Fig.  17.)  These 
cones  are  composed  of  crystalline  carbonate  of  lime,  disposed  in  fibres  that 
radiate  from  an  eccentric  axis  to  the  circumference  of  the  Belemnite.  The 
crystalline  condition  of  this  shell  seems  to  result  from  calcareous  infiltra- 
tions (subsequent  to  interment,)  into  the  intervals  between  the  radiating  cal- 
careous fibres  of  which  it  was  originally  composed.  The  idea  that  the  Be- 
lemnite  was  a  heavy  solid  stony  body,  whilst  it  formed  part  of  a  living  and 
floating  sepia,  would  be  contrary  to  all  analogies  afforded  by  the  internal 
organs  of  living  Cephalopods.  The  odour,  resembling  burnt  horn,  pror 
dueed  on  burning  this  part  of  a  Belemnite,  arises  from  the  remains  of 
horny  membranes  interposed  between  each  successive  fibro-ealcareous 
cone. 

An  argument  in  favour  of  the  opinion  that  Bclemnites  were  internal 
organs,  arises  from  the  fact  of  their  surface  being  often  covered  with  vascu- 
lar impressions,  derived  from  the  mantle  in  vvhich  it  was  enclosed.  In  some 
species  of  Belemnitcs  tiie  back  is  granulated,  like  the  back  of  the  internal 
shell  of  Sepia  officinalis. 

*  This  laminated  horny  sheath  is  rarely  preserved  in  connexion  with 
the  fibro-calcareous  shelly  sheath ;  but  in  the  Lias  at  Lyme  Regis,  it  is 
frequently  found  without  the  shell.  Certain  portions  of  it  are  often 
highly  nacreous,  whilst  other  parts  of  the  same  sheath  !;etain  their  horny 
condition, 

24* 


282  ANIMAL  BELEMNO-SEPIA. 

The  transverse  plates  are  outwardly  concave,  inwardly  con- 
vex ;  and  are  perforated  by  a  continuous  siphuncle,  (PI.  44, 
Fig.  17,  b.,)  placed  on  the  inferior,  or  ventral  margin. 

We  have  already  (Ch.  XV.  Section  II.)  described  the 
horny  pens  and  ink-bags  of  the  Loligo,  found  in  the  Lias  at 
Lyme  Regis.  Similar  ink-bags  have  recently  been  found 
in  connexion  with  Belemnites  in  the  same  Lias.  Some  of 
these  ink-bags  are  nearly  a  foot  in  length,  and  shov/  that  the 
Beleniho-sepicE,*  from  which  they  were  derived,  attained 
great  size. 

*  In  1829,  I  communicated  to  the  Geological  Society  of  London  a  notice 
respecting  the  probable  connexion  of  Belemnites  with  certain  fossil  ink- 
bags,  surrounded  by  brilliant  nacre,  found  in  the  Lias  at  Lyme  Regis..  (See 
Phil.  Mag.  N.  S.  1821),  p.  388.)  At  the  same  time  I  caused  to  be  prepared 
the  drawings  of  fossils,  engraved  in  PI.  44",  which  induced  me  to  con- 
sider these  ink-bags  as  derived  from  Cephalopods  connected  with  Belem- 
nites. I  then  withheld  their  publication,  in  the  hope  of  discovering  certain 
demonstration,  in  some  specimen  that  shoiild  present  these  ink-bags  in 
connexion  with  the  sheath  or  body  of  a  Belemnite,  and  this  demonstration 
has  at  length  been  furnished  by  a  discovery  made  by  Professor  Agassiz 
(October,  1834,)  in  the  cabinet  of  MissPhilpotts,  at  Lyme  Regis,  of  two  im- 
portant  specimens  which  appear  to  be  decisive  of  the  question.  (See  PI. 
44',  Figs.  7,  9.) 

Each  of  these  specimens  contains  an  ink-bag  within  the  anterior  portion 
of  the  sheath  of  a  perfect  Belemnite  ;  and  we  are  henceforth  enabled  with 
certainty  to  refer  all  species  of  Belemnites  to  a  family  in  the  class  of  Cepha- 
lopods,  for  which  I  would,  in  concurrence  with  M.  Agassiz  propose  the  name 
01  Bele?nno-sepia,  Such  ink-bags  are  occasionally  found  in  contact  with 
traces  of  isolated  alveoli  of  Belemnites:  they  are  more  frequently  surrounded 
only  by  a  thin  plate  of  brilliant  nacre. 

The  specimen  (PI.  44"',  Fig.  1,)  was  procured  by  me  from  Miss  Mary 
Anning  in  1829,  who  considered  it  as  appertaining  to  a  Belemnite,  Near 
its  lower  end  we  see  the  lines  of  growth  of  the  horny  anterior  sheath, 
but  no  traces  of  the  posterior  calcareous  sheath ;  within  this  horny  sheath 
is  placed  the  ink-bag.  The  conical  form  of  this  anterior  chamber  seems 
to  have  been  altered  by  pressure.  It  is  composed  of  a  thin  laminated 
substance  (see  PI.  44",  Fig.  1,  d.,)  which  in  some  parts  is  brilliantly 
nacreous,  whilst  in  other  parts  it  presents  simply  the  appearance  of  horn. 
The  outer  surface  of  this  cup  is  marked  transversely  with  gentle  undula- 
tions, which  probably  indicate  stages  of  growth.    Miss  Baker  has  a  Belem- 


INK-BAG.  283; 

The  fact  of  these  animals  having  been  provided  with  so 
large  a  reservoir  of  ink,  affords  an  d.  priori  probability  that 
they  had  no  external  shell;  the  ink-bag,  as  far  as  we  yet 
know,  being  a  provision  confined  to  naked  Cephalopods, 
which  have  not  that  protection  from  an  external  shelly 
which  is  afforded  by  the  shell  of  the  N.  Pompilius  to  its 
inhabitant,  that  has  no  ink-bag.  No  ink,  or  ink-bags  have 
been  ever  seen  within  the  shell  of  any  fossil  Nautilus  or 
Ammonite :  had  such  a  substance  existed  in  the  body  of  the 
animals  that  occupied  their  outer  chamber,  some  traces  of 
it  must  have  remained  in  those-  beds  of  lias  at  Lyme  Regis, 
which  are  loaded  with  Nautili  and  Ammonites,  and  have 
preserved  the  ink  of  naked  Cephalopods  in  so  perfect  a  con- 
dition. The  young  Sepia  officinalis,  whilst  included  within 
the  transparent  egg,  exhibits  its  ink-bag  distended  with  ink, 
provided  beforehand  for  use  as  soon  as  it  is  excluded ;  and 
this  ink-bag  is  surrounded  by  a  covering  of  brilliant  nacre- 


nitc  from  the  inferior  Oolite  near  Nortliampton,  in  which  one  lialf  of  the 
fibrous  cup  being-  removed,  the  structure  of  the  conical  shell  of  the  alveolus 
is  seen  impressed  on  a  cast  of  iron-stone,  and  exhibits  undulating'  lines  of 
growth,  lilie  those  on  the  exterior  of  the  shell  of  N.  Pompilius. 

M.  Blainville,  although  he  had  not  seen  a  specimen  of  Belemnite  in  which 
the  anterior  horny  conical  chamber  is  preserved,  has  argued  from  the  ana- 
logy of  other  cognate  chambered  shells  that  such  an  appendage  was  apper- 
tinent  to  this  shell.  The  soundness  of  his  reasoning  is  confirmed  by  the 
discovery  of  the  specimen  before  us,  containing  this  part  in  the  form  and 
place  which  he  had  predicted.  "Par  analogic  elle  etait  done  evidemment 
dorsalc  et  terminate,  et  lorsqu'elle  6t;iit  complete  c'estil  dire  pourvue  d'une 
cavile,  I'extremite  postericure  des  visceres  de  I'animal  (tres-probablement 
I'organe  secreteur  de  la  generation  ct  partie  du  foie)  y  etait  renfermee." — 
Blainville  Mem.  sur  les  Belemnites.     1827.     Page  28. 

Count  Munster  (Mem,  Geol.  par.  A.  Boue,  1832,  V.  1,  PI.  4,  Figs.  1,  2,  3, 
15,)  has  published  figures  of  very  perfect  Belemnites  from  Solenhofen,  in 
some  of  which  the  interior  horny  sheath  is  preserved,  to  a  distance  equal  to 
the  length  of  the  solid  calcareous  portion  of  the  Belemnite  (PI.  44',  Figs. 
10,  11, 12,  13,)  but  in  neither  of  these  are  there  any  traces  of  an  ink-bag. 


284  INK-BAG. 

ous  matter,  similar  to  that  we  find  on  certain  internal  mem 
branes  of  many  fishes.* 

•  I  would  here  add  a  few  words  of  explanation  of  the  curious  fact,  that 
among-  the  innumerable  specimens  of  Belemnites  wliicli  have  so  long  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  natui-alists,  not  one  lias  till  now  been  found  entire 
in  all  its  parts,  having  the  ink  within  its  external  chamber;  either  tiie  fibro- 
calcareous  sheath  is  found  detached  from  the  horny  sheath  and  ink-bag,  or 
the  ink-bag  is  found  apart  from  the  Belemnite,  and  surrounded  only  by 
the  nacreous  horny  membrane  of  its  anterior  chamber.  We  know  fron> 
the  condition  of  tiie  compressed  nacreous  Ammonites  in  the  Lias-shale  at 
Watchet,  that  the  nacreous  lining  only  of  these  shells  is  here  preserved, 
whilst  the  shell  itself  has  perished.  This  fact  seems  to  explain  the  absence 
of  the  calcareous  sheath  and  shell  in  almost  every  specimen  of  ink-bags  at 
Lyme  Regis,  which  is  surrounded  with  iridescent  nacre,  like  that  of  the 
Ammonites  of  Watchet.  The  matrix  in  these  cases  may  have  had  a  capa- 
city for  presei"ving  nacreous  or  horny  substances,  whilst  it  allowed  the  more 
soluble  calcareous  matter  of  shells  to  be  removed,  probably  dissolved  in 
some  acid. 

The  greater  difficulty  is  to  explain  the  reason,  why  amidst  the  millions 
of  Belemnites  that  are  dispersed  indiscriminately  through  almost  all  strata  of 
the  Secondary  series,  and  sometimes  form  entire  pavements  in  beds  of  shale 
connected  with  the  Lias  and  Inferior  oolite,  it  so  rarely  liappens  that  either 
the  horny-sheath,  or  the  ink-bag,  have  been  preserved.  We  may,  I  think, 
explain  the  absence  of  the  nacreous  horny-sheath,  by  supposing  that  a  con- 
dition of  the  matrix  favourable  to  the  preservation  of  the  calcareous  slieath 
was  unfavourable  to  the  preservation  of  horny  membrane  ;  and  we  may  also 
explain  the  absence  of  ink-bags,  by  supposing  that  the  decomposition  of  the 
soft  parts  of  the  animal  usually  caused  tlie  ink  to  be  dispersed,  before  the 
body  was  buried  in  the  earthy  sediment  then  going  on. 

At 'the  base  of  Golden  Cap  hill,  near  Charmouth,  the  shore  presents 
two  strata  of  marl  almost  paved  with  Belemnites,  and  separated  by  about 
three  feet  only  of  comparatively  barren  marl.  As  great  numbers  of  these 
Belemnites  have  Surpulje,  and  other  extraneous  shells  attached  to  them,  we 
learn  from  this  circumstance  that  the  bodies  and  ink-bags  had  decomposed, 
and  the  Belemnites  lain  some  time  uncovered  at  the  bottom.  These  facts 
are  explained  by  supposing  that  tlie  sea  near  this  spot  was  much  frequented 
by  Belemno-sepise  during  the  intervals  of  the  deposition  of  the  Lias.  Simi- 
lar conclusions  follow,  from  the  state  of  many  Belemnites  in  the  chalk  of 
Antrim,  which  had  been  perforated  by  small  boring  animals,  whilst  they 
lay  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  and  these  perforations  filled  with  casts  of  chalk 


BELEMNITE  COMPARED  WITH  NAX^TILIJS.  285 

Comparing  the  shell  of  Belemnite,  with  that  of  Nautilus, 
we  find  the  agreement  of  all  their  most  important  parts  to 
be  nearly  complete  ;*  and  the  same  analogies  might  be 
traced  through  the  other  genera  of  chambered  shells.f 

or  flint,  when  the  matter  of  the  chalk  strata  was  deposited  upon  them,  in 
a  soft  and  fluid  state.  (See  Allan's  Paper  on  Belemnite,  Trans.  Royal 
Soc.   Edin.,  and   Miller's   Paper,  Geol.  Tran?.  Lond.  1826,  p.  53.) 

Thus  of  the  millions  of  Belemnites  which  crowd  the  Secondary  forma- 
tions, only  the  fibro-calcareous  sheatli  and  chambered  alveoli  are  usually 
preserved;  whilst  in  certain  shale  beds  this  sheath  and  shell  have  some* 
times  entirely  disappeared,  and  the  horny  or  nacreous  sheath  or  ink-bag 
alone  remain.  See  PI,  44",  Fig.  1,  2,  3.  4,  5,  6,  7,  8.  la  the  rare  case 
PI.  44',  Fig.  7,  which  has  aflforded  the  clue  to  this  hitherto  unexplained 
enigma,  we  have  all  the  three  essential  parts  of  a  Belemnite  preserved  in 
their  respective  places  nearly  entire.  The  ink-bag  (c)  is  placed  within 
the  anterior  horny  cup  (e,  e',  e'';)  and  the  chambered  alveolus,  (b  b') 
within  the  hollow  cone  of  the  posterior  fibro-calcareous  shell,  or  common 
Belemnite. 

*  The  air-chambers  and  siphuncle  are,  in  both  these  families,  essentially 
the  same. 

In  Belemnites,  the  anterior  extremity  of  the  fibro-calcareous  shell,  which 
forms  a  hollow  straight  cone,  surrounding  the  transverse  plates  of  the 
chambered  alveolus,  represents  the  hollow  coiled  up  cone  containing  all  the 
transverse  plates,  which  make  up  the  alveolus  of  the  Nautilus.. 

The  anterior  horny  cap,  or  outer  chamber  of  the  Belemnite,  surrounding 
the  ink-bag,  and  other  viscera,  represents  the  large  anterior  shelly  chamber 
which  contains  the  body  of  the  Nautilus. 

The  posterior  portion  of  the  Belemnite,  which  is  elongated  backwards 
into  a  fibrous  pointed  shaft,  is  a  modification  of  the  apex  of  the  straight 
cone  of  this  shell,  to  which  tiiere  seems  to  be  no  equivalent  in  the  apex 
of  the  coiled-up  cone  of  Nautilus.  The  cause  of  this  peculiar  addition  to 
the  ordinary  parts  of  shells,  seems  to  rest  in  the  peculiar  uses  of  the  shaft 
of  the  Belemnite,  as  an  internal  shell,  acting  like  the  internal  shell  of  the 
Sepia  Ofiieinalis,  to  support  the  soft  parts  of  the  animals,  within  the 
bodies  of  which  they  were  respectively  enclosed.  The  fibrous  structure 
of  this  shaft  is  such  as  is  common  to  many  shells,  and  is  most  obvious  in  the 
Pinnce. 

t  Comparing  the  Belemnite,  or  internal  shell  of  Balemno-sepia  with 
the  Sepiostaire,  {Blainville,)  or  internal  shell  of  the  Sepia  Officinalis,  we 
have  the  following  analogies.  In  the  Sepiostaire,  (PI.  44',  Fig.  2,  a.  e. 
and  Figs.  4,  4'.  5,)  the  small  conical  apex  (a)  represents  the  apex  of  the 
long  calcareous  posterior  sheath  of  the  Belemnite,  (Fig.   7,  a.,)   and  the 


286  NUMBER  OF  SPECIES. 

Eighty-eight  species  of  Belemnites  have  already  been  dis- 
covered;* and  the  vast  numerical  amount  to  which  in- 
dividuals of  these  species  were  extended,  is  proved  by  the 
myriads  of  their  fossil  remains  that  fill  the  Oolitic  and  Cre- 
taceous formations.  When  we  recollect  that  throughout 
both  these  great  formations,  the  still  more  numerous  extinct 
family  of  Ammonites  is  co-extensive  with  the  Belemnites ; 
and  that  each  species  of  Ammonite  exhibits  also  contri- 
vances, more  complex  and  perfect  than  those  retained  in 
the  few  existing  cognate  genera  of  Cephalopods ;  we  cannot 
but  infer  that  these  extinct  families  filled  a  larger  space,  and 
performed  more  important  functions  among  the  inhabitants 

calcareous  plates,  alternaling  with  horny  plates,  which  form  the  shield  and 
shallow  cup  of  the  Sepioslaire,  (Pi.  44',  Fig.  2,  e.  and  Fig.  5.  e.,)  represent 
the  hollow  fibro-calcareous  cone  or  cup  of  the  Belemnite,  surrounding  its 
alveolus. 

The  margin  of  the  horny  plates;  interposed  between  the  calcareous  plates 
of  the  shield  and  cup  of  the  Sepiostaire,  (Pi.  44',  Fig.  4,  e,  e,  e',  e.,)  repre- 
sents the  horny  marginal  cavity  of  the  cone  of  the  Belemnite,  beyond  the 
base  of  its  hollow  calcareous  cone,  (Pi.  44'  Fig.  7,  e.  e'.  e".)  This  horny 
sheath  of  the  Belemnite  was  probably  formed  by  the  prolongation  of  the 
homy  laminae  which  were  interposed  between  its  successive  cones  of  fibro- 
calcareous  matter. 

The  chambered  alveolus  of  the  Belemnite  is  represented  by  the  congeries 
of  thin  transverse  plates,  (Pi.  44',  Fig.  4,  b.)  which  occupy  the  interior  of 
the  shallow  cup  of  Sepiostaire,  (e.  e'.;)  these  plates  are  composed  of  horny 
matter,  penetrated  with  carbonate  of  lime. 

The  hollow  spaces  between  them,  (Fig.  5,  b,  b',)  whicli  are  nearly  a 
hundred  in  number  in  the  full  grown  animal,  act  as  air-chambers  to  make 
the  entire  shell  permanently  lighter  than  water;  but  there  is  no  siphuncle  to 
vary  the  specific  gravity  of  this  shell;  and  the  thin  chambers  between  its 
transverse  plates  are  studded  with  an  infinity  of  minute  columnar,  and  sinuous 
partitions,  jilanted  at  right  angles  to  the  plates,  and  giving  them  support. 
(Fig.  6',  6",  6'".) 

The  absence  of  a  siphuncle  render,  the  Sepiostaire  an  organ  of  more 
simple  structure,  and  of  lower  office,  than  the  more  compound  shell  of  Be- 
lemnite. 

•  (See  index  to  M.  Brochant  de  Villiers'  Translation  of  De  la  Heche's 
Manual  of  Geology.) 


CONCLUSION.  287 

of  the  ancient  seas,  than  are  assigned  to  their  few  living 
representatives  in  our  modern  oceans. 


Conclusion. 

It  results  from  the  view  we  have  taken  of  the  zoological 
affinities  between  living  and  extinct  species  of  chambered 
shells,  that  they  are  all  connected  by  one  plan  and  organi- 
zation; each  forming  a  link  in  the  common  chain,  which 
unites  existing  species  with  those  that  prevailed  among  the 
earliest  conditions  of  life  upon  our  globe  ;  and  all  attesting 
the  Identity  of  the  design,  that  has  effected  so  many  similar 
ends  through  such  a  variety  of  instruments,  the  principle 
of  whose  construction  is,  in  every  species,  fundamentally 
the  same. 

Throughout  the  various  living  and  extinct  genera  of 
Chambered  shells,  the  use  of  the  air-chambers  and  siphon, 
to  adjust  the  specific  gravity  of  the  animals  in  rising  and 
sinking,  appears  to  have  been  identical.  The  addition  of  a 
new  transverse  plate  within  the  conical  shell  added  a  new 
air-chamber,  larger  than  the  preceding  one,  to  counter- 
balance the  increase  of  weight  that  attended  the  growth  of 
the  shell  and  body  of  all  these  animals. 

These  beautiful  arrangements  are,  and  ever  have  been, 
subservient  to  a  common  object,  viz.  the  construction  of 
hydraulic  instruments  of  essential  importance  in  the  economy 
of  creatures  destined  to  move  sometimes  at  the  bottom,  and 
at  other  times  upon  or  near  the  surface  of  the  sea.  The 
delicate  adjustments  whereby  the  same  principle  is  extended 
through  so  many  grades  and  modifications  of  a  single  type, 
show  the  uniform  and  constant  agency  of  some  controlHng 
Intelligence ;  and  in  searching  for  the  origin  of  so  much 
method  and  regularity  amidst  variety,  the  mind  can  only 
rest,  when  it  has  passed  back,  through  the  subordinate 
series  of  Second  causes,  to  that  great  First  Cause,  which  is 
found  in  the  will  and  power  of  a  common  Creator. 


288  FORAMINATED    POLYTHALAMOUS    SHELLS. 


SECTION  VIII. 

FORAMINATED    POLYTHALAMOUS    SHELLS. 

Mummuliies. 

If  the  present  were  a  fit  occasion  for  such  minute  in- 
quiries, the  investigations  of  the  various  known  species  of 
Microscopic  shells  would  unfold  a  series  of  contrivances 
having  relation  to  the  economy  of  the  minute  Cephalopods 
by  which  they  were  constructed,  not  less  striking  than  those 
we  have  been  examining  in  the  shells  of  extinct  Genera 
and  species  of  larger  Cephalopods.  M.  D'Orbigny  has 
noticed  from  600  to  700  species  of  these  shells,  and  has 
prepared  magnified  models  of  100  species,  comprehending 
all  the  Genera.* 

The  greater  number  of  these  shells  are  microscopic,  and 
swarm  in  the  Mediterranean  and  Adriatic.  Their  fossil 
species  abound  chiefly  in  the  Tertiary  formations,  and  have 
hitherto  been  noticed  principally  in  Italy.     (See  Soldani,  as 

*  M.  D'Orbigny,  in  his  classification  of  the  shells  of  Cephalopodous 
Mollusks,  has  established  three  orders.  1.  Those  that  have  but  a  single 
chamber,  like  the  shell  of  the  sepia  and  horny  pen  of  the  Loligo.  2.  Poly- 
thalamous  shells,  which  have  a  siphuncle  passing'  through  all  the  internal 
chambers,  and  which  terminate  in  a  large  external  chamber,  beyond  the 
last  partition,  such  as  Nautili,  Ammonites,  and  Belemnites.  3.  Poly- 
thalamous  internal  shells,  wiiich  have  no  chamber  beyond  their  last  parti- 
tion. 

Shells  of  this  order  have  no  siphuncle,  but  tiie  chambers  communicate 
with  each  other  by  means  of  one  or  many  small  foramina.  On  this  distinc- 
tion he  has  founded  his  Order  Foraminiferes,  containing  five  families  and 
fifty-two  genera. 

It  may  be  necessary  to  apprize  the  reader  that  doubts  have  been  enter, 
tained  as  to  the  cephalopodous  structure  of  some  of  these  minute  multilocu- 
lar  shells ;  and  that  there  are  not  wanting  those  who  attrib  ute  to  them  a 
different  organization. 


NUMMULITE.  289 

quoted  at  page  97  of  this  volume.)  They  occur  also  in 
the  Chalk  of  Meudon,  in  the  Jura  Limestone  of  the  Cha- 
rente  inferieure,  and  the  Oolite  of  Calne.  They  have  been 
found  by  the  Marquis  of  Northampton  in  Chalk  flints  from 
the  neighbourhood  of  Brighton. 

The  Nummulite  is  the  only  Genus  I  shall  select  on  the 
present  occasion  from  this  Order.  It  is  included  in  M. 
D'Orbigny's  Section  Nautiloids. 

Nummulites  (PI.  44,  Fig.  6,  7,)  are  so  called  from  their 
resemblance  to  a  piece  of  money,  they  vary  in  size  from 
that  of  a  crown  piece  to  microscopic  littleness;  and  occupy 
an  important  place  in  the  history  of  fossil  shells,  on  account 
of  the  prodigious  extent  to  which  they  are  accumulated  in 
the  later  members  of  the  Secondary,  and  in  many  of  the 
Tertiary  strata.  They  are  often  piled  on  each  other  nearly 
in  as  close  contact  as  the  grains  in  a  heap  of  corn.  In  this 
state  they  form  a  considerable  portion  of  the  entire  bulk  of 
many  extensive  mountains,  e.  g.  in  the  Tertiary  limestones 
of  Verona  and  Monte  Bolca,  and  in  secondary  strata  of 
the  Cretaceous  formation  in  the  Alps,  Carpathians,  and 
Pyrenees.  Some  of  the  pyramids  and  the  Sphinx,  of  Egypt, 
are  composed  of  limestone  loaded  with  Nummulites. 

It  is  impossible  to  see  such  mountain-masses  of  the 
i-emains  of  a  single  family  of  shells  thus  added  to  the  solid 
materials  of  the  globe,  without  recollecting  that  each  indi- 
vidual shell  once  held  an  important  place  within  the  body  of 
a  living  animal ;  and  thus  recalling  our  imagination  to  those 
distant  epochs  when  the  waters  of  the  ocean  which  then 
covered  Europe  were  filled  with  floating  swarms  of  these 
extinct  MoUusks,  thick  as  the  countless  myriads  of  Beroe 
and  Clio  Borealis  that  now  crowd  the  waters  of  the  polar 
seas.* 

*  We  have  an  analogy  to  tliis  supposed  state  of  crowded  population  of 
Nummulites  in  the  ancient  sea,  in  the  marvellous  fecundity  of  the  northern 
ocean  at  the  present  time.    It  is  stated  by  Cuvier,  in  his  memoir  on  the 

VOL.  I. — 25 


290  NUMMULITE. 

s  The  Nummulites,  like  the  Nautilus  and  Ammonite,  are 
divided  into  air-chambers,  which  served  the  office  of  a 
iioat :  but  there  is  no  enlargement  of  the  last  chamber  which 
could  have  contained  any  part  of  the  body  of  the  animal. 
The  chambers  are  very  numerous,  and  minutely  divided  by 
transverse  plates ;  but  are  without  a  siphuncle.*  The  form 
of  the  essential  parts  varies  in  each  species  of  this  genus, 
but  their  principles  of  construction,  and  manner  of  operation, 
appear  in  all  to  have  been  the  same. 

The  remains  of  the  Nummulites  are  not  only  animal 
bodies  which  have  contributed  to  form  the  calcareous  strata 
of  the  crust  of  the  earth ;  other,  and  more  minute  species  of 
Chambered  shells  have  also  produced  great,  and  most  sur- 
prising effects.  liamarck  (Note,  v.  7.  p.  611,)  speaking  of 
the  Miliola,  a  small  moltilocular  shell,  no  larger  than  a  mil- 
let seed,  with  which  the  strata  of  many  quarries  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Paris  are  largely  interspersed,  notices  the  im- 
portant influence  which  these  minute  bodies  have  exercised 
by  reason  of  their  numerical  abundance.     We  scarcely  con- 


Clio  Borealis,  that  in  calm  weather,  the  surface  of  the  water  in  these  seas 
swarms  with  such  millions  of  these  mollusks  (rising  for  a  moment  to  the  air 
at  the  surface,  and  again  instantly  sinking  towards  the  bottom,)  that  the 
whales  can  scarce  open  their  enormous  moutlis  without  gulping  in  thou- 
sands of  these  little  gelatinous  creatures,  an  inch  long,  which,  together  with 
Meduss,  and  some  smaller  animals,  constitute  the  chief  articles  of  their  food ; 
and  we  have  a  farther  analogy  in  the  fact  mentioned  in  Jameson's  Journal, 
vol.  ii.  p.  12.  "  That  the  number  of  small  Medusse  in  some  parts  of  the 
Greenland  seas  is  so  great,  that  in  a  cubic  inch,  taken  up  at  random,  tliere 
are  no  less  than  64,  In  a  cubic  foot  this  will  amount  to  110,592;  and 
in  a  cubic  mile  (and  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  water  being  charged  with 
them  to  that  extent,)  the  number  is  such,  that  allowing  one  person  to  count 
a  million  in  a  week,  it  would  have  required  80,000  persons,  from  the  crea- 
tion of  the  world,  to  complete  the  enumeration." — See  Dr.  Kidd's  admirable 
Introductory  Lecture  to  a  course  of  Comparative  Anatomy,  Oxford,  1824^ 
p.  35. 

*  In  PI.  44,  Figs.  6,  7,  sections  of  two  species  of  Nummulite  are  copied 
from  Parkinson.  These  show  the  manner  in  which  the  whorls  are  coiled 
up  round  each  other,  and  divided  by  oblique  septa. 


ARTICULATED    ANIMALS.  291 

descend,  says  he,  to  examine  microscopic  shells,  from  their 
insignificant  size :  but  we  cease  to  think  them  insignificant, 
when  we  reflect  that  it  is  by  means  of  the  smallest  objects, 
that  Nature  every  where  produces  her  most  remarkable  and 
astonishing  phenomena.  Whatever  she  may  seem  to  lose 
in  point  of  volume  in  the  production  of  living  bodies,  is  amply 
made  up  by  the  number  of  the  individuals,  which  she  multi- 
plies with  admirable  promptitude  to  infinity.  The  remains 
of  such  minute  animals  have  added  much  more  to  the  mass 
of  materials  which  compose  the  exterior  crust  of  the  globe, 
than  the  bones  of  Elephants,  Hippopotami,  and  Whales. 


CHARTER  XVI. 

Proofs  of  Design  in  the  Structure  of  Fossil  Articulated, 
Animals. 

The  third  grand  division  in  Cuvier's  arrangement  of  the 
animal  kingdom,  viz.  the  articulated  animals,  comprehends 
four  classes. 

1.  The  Annehdans,  or  worms  with  red  blood. 

2.  Crustaceans,  most  familiar  to  us  under  the  form  of 
Crabs  and  Lobsters. 

3.  Arachnidans,  or  Spiders. 

4.  Insects. 


292  FOSSIL    CRUSTACEANS. 


SECTION  I. 

First  Class  of  Articulated  Animals, 

FOSSIL    ANNELIDANS. 

However  numerous  may  have  been  the  ancient  species 
of  Annelidans  without  a  shelly  covering,  naked  worms  of 
this  class  can  have  left  but  slight  traces  of  their  existence, 
except  the  holes  they  perforated,  and  the  little  accumulations 
of  sand  or  mud  cast  up  at  the  orifice  of  these  perforations ; 
in  a  preceding  chapter*  we  have  noticed  examples  of  this 
kind.  We  have  also  abundant  evidence  of  the  early  and 
continued  prevalence  of  that  order  of  Annelidans,  which 
formed  shelly  calcareous  tubes,  in  the  occurrence  of  fossil 
Serpulae  in  nearly  all  formations,  from  the  Transition  periods 
to  the  present  time. 


SECTION  II. 

Second  Class  of  Articulated  Animals. 

FOSSIL    CRUSTACEANS. 

The  history  of  fossil  Crustaceans  has  been  hitherto  almost 
untouched  by  Palseontologists,  and  their  relations  to  the  ex- 
isting Genera  of  this  great  Class  of  the  Animal  Kingdom 
are  to  olittle  known  to  admit  of'  discussion  in  this  place. 

See  note  at  pages  198 — 199. 


FOSSIL  CRUSTACEANS.  293 

We  may  judge  of  their  extent  in  certain  Formations,  from 
the  fact,  that  in  the  cabinet  of  Count  Munster,  there  are 
nearly  sixty  species  collected  from  a  single  stratum  of  the 
Jurassic  Limestone  of  Solenhofen.  A  rich  harvest,  there- 
fore, remains  in  store  for  the  Naturalist  who  will  trace  this 
interesting  subject  through  the  entire  series  of  Geological 
formations. 

The  analogies  between  existing  species,  and  certain  fossil 
remains  of  Crustaceans  have  been  beautifully  illustrated  by 
the  investigations  of  M.  Desmarest.  From  him  we  learn, 
that  all  the  inequalities  of  the  external  shell  in  the  living 
species  have  constant  relation  to  distinct  compartments  in 
their  internal  organization.  By  the  application  of  these  dis- 
tinctions to  fossil  species,  he  has  pointed  out  a  method  of 
comparing  them  with  living  Crustaceans  in  a  new  and  un- 
expected manner,  and  has  established  satisfactory  analogies 
between  the  extinct  and  existing  members  of  this  very  nu- 
merous Class,  in  cases  where  the  legs  and  other  parts  on 
which  generic  distributions  have  been  founded,  were  entire- 
ly wanting.* 

*  H.  Von  Meyer  has  recently  noticed  five  or  six  extinct  genera  of  Ma- 
crourous  Decapods  in  the  Musclielkalk  of  Germany.  (Leonhardt  and  Bronn 
Jahrbuch,  1835.) 

The  subject  of  Einglish  fossil  Astacids  (Crawfishes)  is  at  this  time  re- 
ceiving' important  illustration  in  the  able  hands  of  Prof  Phillips. 

In  a  recent  communication  to  the  Geological  Society  (June  10, 1835,)  Mr. 
Broderip  describes  some  very  interesting  remains  of  Crustaceans  from  the 
Lias  at  Lyme  Regis,  in  the  collection  of  Viscount  Cole.  In  one  of  these, 
the  Lamell^e  of  the  external  Antennx,  the  form  and  situation  of  the  eyes, 
and  other  characters,  show  that  it  was  a  macrourous  decapod  intermediate  be- 
tween Palinurus  and  the  Shrimps. 

A  fragment  of  another  macrourous  decapod  proves  the  existence  at  this 
early  period  of  a  crustacean  approaching  to  Palinurus,  and  as  large  as  our 
common  Sea  Crawfish. 

Two  other  specimens  exhibit  the  breathing  organs  of  another  delicate 
Crustacean,  with  the  tips  of  the  four  larger  and  four  smaller  branchise  pre- 
served, and  pointing  towards  the  region  of  the  heart,  showing  that  these 
fossil  Crustaceans  belonged  to  the  highest  division  of  the  Macroura.    They 

25* 


294  TEILOBITES,  THEIR  DISTRIBUTION. 

Referring  my  readers  to  these  valuable  commencements 
of  the  history  of  fossil  Crustaceans,  I  proceed  to  select  one 
very  remarkable  family,  the  Trilobites,  and  to  devote  to 
them  that  detailed  consideration,  to  which  they  seem  pecu- 
liarly entitled,  from  their  apparently  anomolous  structure, 
and  from  the  obscurity  in  which  their  history  has  been  in- 
volved. 


Trilobites. 

The  great  extent  to  which  Trilobites  are  distributed  over 
the  surface  of  the  globe,  and  their  numerical  abundance  in 
the  places  where  they  have  been  discovered,  are  remarkable 
features  in  their  history ;  they  occur  at  most  distant  points^ 
both  of  the  JNorthern  and  Southern  Hemisphere.  They  have 
been  found  all  over  Northern  Europe,  and  in  numerous  lo- 
calities in  North  America ;  and  in  the  Southern  Hemisphere 
they  occur  in  the  Andes,*  and  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

No  Trilobites  have  yet  been  found  in  any  strata  more  re- 
cent than  the  Carboniferous  series ;  and  no  other  Crusta- 
ceans, except  three  forms  which  are  also  Entomostracous, 
have  been  noticed  in  strata  coeval  w^ith  any  of  those  that 

reminded  Mr.  Broderip  of  the  living  Arctic  forms  of  the  macrourous  deca- 
pods. 

*  I  learn  from  Mr.  Pentland  that  M.  D'Orbigiiy  has  lately  found  Trilo- 
bites, accompanied  by  Strophomena  and  Producta  in  tlie  Greywacke  slate 
formation  of  the  Eastern  Cordillera  of  the  Andes  of  Bolivia.  Fresh-water 
shells,  Melania,  Melanopsis,  and  probable  Anodon,  occur  also  in  the  same 
rock;  a  fact  which  seems  analogous  to  the  recent  discovery  of  similar  fossils 
in  the  Transition  rocks  of  Ireland,  Germany,  and  the  United  States.  The 
Fresh-water  fossils  occurred  near  Potosi,  at  an  elevation  of  13,200  feet. 

M.  D'Orbigny's  specimens  also  confirm  Mr.  Pentland's  view,  as  to  the 
analogies  between  the  great  Limestone  formation  of  this  district,  and  tlie 
Carboniferous  limestones  of  England;  and  as  to  the  great  extent  also  of  the 
Red  Marl,  and  New  red  sandstone  formations  on  the  Continent  of  South 
America. 


FOUND  ONLY  IN  TRANSITION  SERIES.  295 

contain  the  remains  of  Trilobites  ;*  so  that  during  the  long 
periods  that  intervened  between  the  deposition  of  the  eariiest 
fossihferous  strata  and  the  termination  of  the  Coal  formation,! 
the  Trilobites  appear  to  have  been  the  chief  representatives 
of  a  class  which  was  largely  multiplied  into  other  orders 
and  families,  after  these  earliest  forms  of  marine  Crustaceans 
became  extinct. 

The  fossil  remains  of  this  family  have  long  attracted  at- 
tention, from  their  strange  peculiarities  of  configuration. 
M.  Brogniart,  in  his  valuable  History  of  Trilobites,  1822, 
enumerated  five  genera,J  and  seventeen  species ;  other 
writers  (Dalma,  Wahlenberg,  Dekay,  and  Green,)  have 
added  five  more  genera,  and  extended  the  number  of  spe- 
cies to  fifty-two  ;  examples  of  four  of  these  genera  are 
given  in  plate  4G.  Fossils  of  this  family  were  long  con- 
founded with  Insects,  under  the  name  of  Entomolithus  para- 
doxus; after  many  disputes  respecting  their  true  nature, 
their  place  has  now  been  fixed  in  a  separate  section  of  the 
class  Crustaceans,  and  although  the  entire  family  appears 
to  have  been  annihilated  at  so  early  a  period  as  the  termi- 
nation of  the  Carboniferous  strata,  they  nevertheless  present 

*  In  Scotland  two  genera  of  Entomostracous  Crustaceans,  the  Eurypterus, 
and  Cypris,  occur  in  the  Fresh-water  limestone  beneath  the  Mid  Lothian 
Coal  Field;  the  Eurypterus  at  Kirkton,  near  Bathgate,  and  the  Cypris  at 
Burdiehouse,  near  Edinburgh.  (Trans.  Royal  Soc.  Edin.  vol.  xiii.)  The 
third  Genus,  Limulus,  has  but  recently  been  recognised  in  the  Coal  Forma- 
tion, and  will  be  described  presently.  The  Entomostracans  appear  to  have 
been  the  only  representatives  of  the  Class  Crustaceans  until  after  the  deposi- 
tion of  the  Carboniferous  strata, 

T  Trilobites  of  a  new  species  have  lately  been  found  in  Ironstone  from  the 
centre  of  the  coal  measures  in  Coalbrook-dalc.  Lond.  and  Edin.  Phil.  Mag, 
vol.  4. 1834,  p.  376. 

X  The  names  of  these  Genera  are  Calymene,  Asaphus,  Ogyges,  Para- 
doxus, and  Agnostus.  Some  of  these  terms  are  devised  expressly  to  denote 
the  obscure  nature  of  the  bodies  to  which  they  are  attached;  e,  g.  Asaphus, 
from  a.<r!t<p>i(,  obscure;  Calymene,  from  ■xix.xw/x/unvii,  concealed;  •^xfAS't^Hr 
wonderful;  aj.i'aa-To;,  unknown. 


296  THE  FOEM  AND  STRUCTURE  OF  TRILOBITES. 

analogies  of  structure,  which  place  them  in  near  approxima- 
tion to  the  inhabitants  of  the  existing  seas.* 

The  anterior  segment  of  the  Trilobites  (PI.  46,  a,  passim,) 
is  composed  of  a  large  semi-circular,  or  crescent-shaped 
shield,  succeeded  by  an  abdomen,  or  body  (c,)  composed  of 
numerous  segments  folding  over  each  other,  like  those  in  a 
Lobster's  tail,  and  generally  divided  by  two  longitudinal 
furrows  into  three  ranges  of  lobes,  from  which  they  have 
derived  the  name  of  Trilobites.  Behind  this  body,  in  many 
species,  is  placed  a  triangular  or  semi-lunar  tail  or  post-ab- 
domen (d,)  less  distinctly  lobated  than  the  body.  One  of 
these  Genera,  the  Calymene,  has  the  property  of  rolling  it- 
self up  into  a  ball  hke  a  common  Wood-Louse.  (See  PL 
46,  Figs.  1,3,4,5.) 

The  nearest  approach  among  living  animals  to  the  ex- 
ternal form  of  Trilobites  is  that  afforded  by  the  genus 
Serolis  in  the  class  Crustacea.  (See  PI.  45,  Figs.  6,  7.f) 
The  most  striking  ditference  between  this  animal,  and  the 


*  See  M.  Audouin's  Recherches  sur  les  Rapports  naturels  qui  extent  enlres 
les  Trilobites  ct  les  Animaux  articules. 

t  The  Genus  Serolis  was  first  established  by  Dr.  Leach,  on  the  authority 
of  specimens  collected  by  Sir  Joseph  Banks,  in  the  Straits  of  Mag^ellan  (or 
rather  of  Magalhaens,  the  proper  name  of  the  navigator,  according  to  Cap- 
tain King)  during  Sir  Joseph's  voyage  with  Captain  Cook,  and  given  by 
Sir  Joseph  to  the  Linnaean  Society  ;  and  of  another  specimen  of  the  same 
Genus  from  Senegal  given  by  Mr.  Dufresne  to  Dr.  Leach.  From  these 
Dr.  Leach  described  and  named  the  species  represented  in  our  plate ;  his 
description  of  this  Genus  is  published  in  the  Dictionnaire  des  Sciences  Na- 
turclles,  V.  12,  p.  340.  Captain  King  has  lately  collected  many  specimens 
of  Scrolls  on  the  east  coast  of  Patagonia,  lat.  45.  S.  30  miles  from  the  shore, 
and  brought  up  by  dredging  in  40  fathoms  water;  and  also  at  Port  Famine, 
in  the  Straits  of  Magalhaens,  where  it  was  thrown  upon  the  beach  by  the 
tide ;  here  Captain  King  saw  the  beach  literally  covered  with  them  dead  ; 
he  has  observed  them  alive  svi'imming  close  to  the  bottom  among  the  sea-- 
weed;  Ihcir  motions  were  slow  and  gradual,  and  not  like  those  of  a  shrimp; 
he  never  saw  them  swimming  near  the  surface  ;  their  legs  seemed  shaped- 
for  swimming  and  crawling  on  the  boltonu 


ANIMALS    ALLIED    TO    TRILOBITES.  297 

Trilobites,  consists  in  there  being  a  fully  developed  series  of 
crustaceous  legs  and  antenna?  in  the  Serolis  (PI.  45,  Fig.  7.,) 
whilst  no  traces  of  either  of  these  organs  have  yet  been 
discovered  in  connexion  with  any  Trilobite.  M.  Brongniart 
explains  the  absence  of  these  organs,  by  conceiving  that  the 
Trilobites  hold  precisely  that  place  in  the  class  Crustaceans 
[Gymnohranchia,)  in  which  the  antennae  become  very  small, 
or  altogether  fail ;  and  that  the  legs  being  transformed  to 
soft  and  perishable  paddles  {pattes,)  bearing  branchiee,  (or 
filamentous  organs  for  breathing  in  water,)  were  incapable 
of  preservation. 

A  second  approximation  to  the  character  of  Trilobites 
occurs  in  the  Limulus,  or  King  crab  (Lamarck,  T.  5,  p. 
145.,)  a  genus  now  most  abundant  in  the  seas  of  warm 
climates,  chiefly  in  those  of  India,  and  the  coasts  of  America 
(see  PI.  45,  Figs.  1.  2.)  The  history  of  this  genus  is  im- 
portant, on  account  of  its  relations,  both  to  the  existing  and 
extinct  forms  of  Crustaceans ;  it  has  been  found  fossil  in 
the  Coal  formation  of  Staflbrdshire  and  Derbyshire;  and 
in  the  Jurassic  limestone  of  Aichstadt,  near  Pappenheim, 
together  with  many  other  marine  Crustaceans  of  a  higher 
Order.* 

*  In  the  genus  Limulus  (see  PI.  45,  Figs.  1.  2.)  there  are  but  faint 
traces  of  antennse,  and  the  shield  (a.,)  which  covers  the  anterior  portion 
of  the  body,  is  expanded  entirely  over  a  series  of  small  crustaceous  legs 
(Fig.  2.  a.)  Beneath  the  Second,  or  abdominal  portion  of  the  shell  (c.,) 
is  placed  a  series  of  thin  horny  transverse  plates  (Fig.  2,  e.  2,  e'.  and  2, 
e",)  supporting  the  fibres  of  the  branchis,  and  at  the  same  time  acting 
as  paddles  for  swimming.  The  same  disposition  of  laminated  branchie 
is  found  also  in  the  Serolis,  Fig.  7.  e.  Fig.  8.  is  a  magnified  representa* 
tion  of  these  laminated  branchiae,  very  similar  to  those  at  Figs.  3,  e.  and 

5.6. 

Thus  while  the  Serolis  (Fig.  7.)  presents  a  union  of  antennae  and 
crustaceous  legs  with  soft  paddles  bearing  the  Branchiae,  we  have  in  the 
Limulus  (Fig.  2,)  a  similar  disposition  of  legs  and  paddles,  and  only 
slight  traces  of  antennse  ;  in  the  Branchipus,  (Figs.  3  and  5,)  we  find  an- 
tennse,  but  no  crustaceous  legs;  while  the  Trilobite,  being  without  an- 
tennae,  and  having  all  its  legs  represented  by  soft  paddles,  as  in  Branchi- 


298  SEROLIS,    LIMULIS,    BRANCHIPUS. 

A  third  example  of  this  disposition,  in  an  animal  belong- 
ing to  the  same  class  of  Crustaceans,  whereby  the  legs  are 
reduced  to  soft  paddles,  and  combine  the  functions  of  respi- 
ration with  those  of  locomotion,  is  afforded  by  the  Branchi- 
pus  stagnahs,  (Cancer  stagnalis,  Lin.,)  of  our  EngUsh  ponds, 
(see  PI.  45,  Figs.  3,  e.  4,  e.  5,  e.) 

In  the  comparison  here  made  between  four  different 
families  of  Crustaceans,  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  the 
history  of  the  long  extinct  Trilobites,  by  the  analogies  we 
find  in  the  Serolis,  Limulus,  and  Branchipus ;  we  have  a 
beautiful  example,  taken  from  the  extreme  points  of  time 
of  which  Geology  takes  cognizance,  of  that  systematic  and 
uniform  arrangement  of  the  Animal  Kingdom,  under  which 
every  family  is  nearly  connected  with  adjacent  and  cognate 
families.  Three  of  the  families  under  consideration  are 
among  the  present  inhabitants  of  the  water,  w^hile  the  fourth 
has  been  long  extinct,  and  occurs  only  in  a  fossil  state. 
When  we  see  the  most  ancient  Trilobites  thus  placed  in 
immediate  contact  with  our  living  Crustaceans,  we  cannot 
but  recognise  them  as  forming  part  and  parcel  of  one  great 
system  of  Creation,  connected  through  its  whole  extent  by 
perfect  unity  of  design,  and  sustained  in  its  minutest  parts 
by  uninterrupted  harmonies  of  organization. 

We  have  in  the  Trilobites  an  example  of  that  peculiar, 
and,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  rudimentary  development 
of  the  organs  of  locomotion  in  the  Class  Crustaceans, 
whereby  the  legs  are  made  subservient  to  the  double  func- 
tions of  paddles  and  lungs.  The  advocate  for  the  theory 
of  the  derivation  of  existing  more  perfect  species,  by  suc- 
cessive changes  from  more  simple  ancient  forms,  might 
imagine  that  he  sees  in  the  Trilobite  the  extinct  parent 
stock  from  which,  by  a  series  of  developments,  consecutive 

pus,  is  by  the  latter  condition  placed  near  Branchipus  among  the  Ento- 
inostracous  Crustaceans,  in  the  order  of  Branchlopods,  whose  feet  are  repre- 
sented by  ciliated  paddles,  combining  the  functions  of  respiration  and  natation- 
At  PI.  45.  Fig.  3.  e,  Fig.  4.  e.  Fig.  5.  e,  represent  the  soft  branchite  of 
Branchipus,  performing  the  double  office  of  feet  and  lungs. 


FOSSIL  EYES  OF  TRILOBITES.  299 

forms  of  more  perfect  Crustaceans  may,  during  the  lapse  of 
ages,  have  been  derived ;  but  according  to  this  hypothesis, 
we  ought  no  longer  to  find  the  same  simple  condition  as 
that  of  the  Trilobite  still  retained  in  the  living  Branchipus, 
nor  should  the  primeval  form  of  Limulus  have  possessed 
such  an  intermediate  character,  or  have  remained  unad- 
vanced  in  the  scale  of  organization,  from  its  first  appearance  "■ 
in  the  Carboniferous  Series,*  through  the  midway  periods 
of  the  secondary  formations,  unto  the  present  hour. 

Eyes  of  Trilohites. 

Besides  the  above  analogies  between  the  Trilobites  and 
certain  forms  of  living  Crustaceans,  there  remains  a  still 
more  important  point  of  resemblance  in  the  structure  of 
their  eyes.  This  point  deserves  peculiar  consideration,  as 
it  affords  the  most  ancient,  and  almost  the  only  example 
yet  found  in  the  fossil  world,  of  the  preservation  of  parts  so 
delicate  as  the  visual  organs  of  animals  that  ceased  to  live 
many  thousands,  and  perhaps  millions  of  years  ago.  We 
must  regard  these  organs  with  feelings  of  no  ordinary  kind, 
when  we  recollect  that  we  have  before  us  the  identical  in- 


*  Tlie  very  rare  fossil  engraved  in  Martin's  Petrifacata  Derbiensia  (Tab. 
45.  Fig.  4,)  by  the  name  of  Entomolithus  Monoculites  (Lunatus)  appears 
to  be  a  Limulus.  It  was  found  in  Iron  Stone  of  the  Coal  formation  on  the 
borders  of  Derbyshire, 

A  similar  fossil  in  the  collectien  of  Mr,  Anstice,  of  Madely,  is  engraved  in 
our  Plate  46  ",Fig,  3. 

In  the  Secondary  period,  during  the  deposition  of  the  Jurassic  limestone, 
the  Limulus  abounded  in  the  seas  which  then  covered  central  Germany ;  and 
it  still  maintains  its  primeval  intermediate  form  in  the  King  Crab  of  the 
present  ocean. 

My  friend  Mr.  Stokes  has  discovered,  on  the  under  side  of  a  fossil  Trilo- 
bite from  Lake  Huron  (PI.  45,  Fig.  12.,)  a  crustaceous  plate  (f.)  forming  the 
entrance  into  the  stomach,  the  shape  and  structure  of  which  resemble  those 
of  the  analogous  parts  in  some  recent  Crabs.  This  organ  forms  another  link 
of  connexion  between  the  Trilobite  and  living  Crustaceans. — Geol.  Trans. 
N.S.vol.  i.p.  208,PI.27. 


300  COMPOUND  AND  FACETTED. 

struments  of  vision,  through  which  the  light  of  heaven  M'as 
admitted  to  the  sensorium  of  some  of  the  first  created  inha- 
bitants of  our  planet. 

The  discovery  of  such  instruments  in  so  perfect  a  state 
of  preservation,  after  having  been  buried  for  incalculable 
ages  in  the  early  strata  of  the  Transition  formation,  is  one 
of  the  most  marvellous  facts  yet  disclosed  by  geological  re- 
searches ;  and  the  structure  of  these  eyes  supplies  an  argu- 
ment, of  high  importance  in  connecting  together  the  extreme 
points  of  the  animal  creation.  An  identity  of  mechanical 
arrangements,  adapted  to  the  construction  of  an  optical  in- 
strument, precisely  similar  to  that  which  forms  the  eyes  of 
existing  insects  and  Crustaceans,  affords  an  example  of 
agreement  that  seems  utterly  inexpUcable  without  reference 
to  the  exercise  of  one  and  the  same  Intelligent  Creative 
power. 

Professor  Miiller  and  Mr.  Straus*  have  ably  and  amply 
illustrated  the  arrangements,  by  which  the  eyes  of  Insects 
and  Crustaceans  are  adapted  to  produce  distinct  vision, 
through  the  medium  of  a  number  of  minute  facets,  or  lenses, 
placed  at  the  extremity  of  an  equal  number  of  conical  tubes, 
or  microscopes ;  these  amount  sometimes,  as  in  the  Butter- 
fly, to  the  number  of  35,000  facets  in  the  two  eyes,  and  in 
the  Dragon-fly  to  14,000. 

It  appears  that  in  eyes  constructed  on  this  principle,  the 
image  will  be  more  distinct  in  proportion  as  the  cones  in  a 
given  portion  of  the  eye  are  more  numerous  and  long ;  that, 
as  compound  eyes  see  only  those  objects  which  present  them- 
selves in  the  axes  of  the  individual  cones,  the  hmit  of  their 
field  of  vision  is  greater  or  smaller  as  the  exterior  of  the  eye 
is  more  or  less  hemispherical. 

If  we  examine  the  eyes  of  Trilobites  with  a  view  to  their 
principles  of  construction,  we  find  both  in  their  form,  and  in 

*  See  Lib.  Ent  Knowledge,  v.  12. ;  and  Dr.  Rogel's  Bridgewatcr  Trea- 
tise, vol,  ii.  p.  486  ct  seq.  and  Fig.  422 — 42S. 


DISPOSITION  OF  THE  LENSES.  301 

the  disposition  of  the  facets,  obvious  examples  of  optical 
adaptation. 

In  the  Asaphus  caudatus  (see  PI.  45,  Figs.  9  and  10.,) 
each  eye  contains  at  least  400  nearly  spherical  lenses  fixed 
in  separate  compartments  on  the  surface  of  the  cornea.* 
The  form  of  the  general  cornea  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  the 
uses  of  an  animal  destined  to  live  at  the  bottom  of  the  water: 
to  look  downwards  was  as  much  impossible  as  it  was  unne- 
cessary to  a  creature  Jiving  at  the  bottom ;  but  for  horizon- 
tal vision  in  every  direction  the  contrivance  is  complete.f 
The  form  of  each  eye  is  nearly  that  of  the  frustum  of  a  cone 
(see  PI.  45,  Figs.  9  and  10.,)  incomplete  on  that  side  only 
which  is  directly  opposite  to  the  corresponding  side  of  the 
other  eye,  and  in  which  if  facets  were  present,  their  chief 
range  would  be  towards  each  other  across  the  head,  where 
no  vision  was  required.  The  exterior  of  each  eye,  like  a 
circular  bastion,  ranges  nearly  round  three-fourths  of  a  cir- 
cle, each  commanding  so  much  of  the  horizon,  that  where 
the  distinct  vision  of  one  eye  ceases,  that  of  the  other  eye 
begins,  so  that  in  the  horizontal  direction  the  combined  range 
of  both  eyes  was  panoramic. 

If  we  compare  this  disposition  of  the  eyes  with  that  in  the 
three  cognate  Crustaceans,  by  which  we  have  been  illus- 
trating the  general  structure  of  the  Trilobites,  we  shall  find 
the  same  mechanism  pervading  them  all,  modified  by  pecu- 
liar adaptations  to  the  state  and  habits  of  each ;  thus  in  the 
Branchipus  (PI.  45,  Fig.  3,  b,  b',)  which  moves  with  rapidi- 
ty in  all  directions  through  the  water,  and  requires  universal 

*  As  tlie  Crystalline  lens  in  the  eyes  of  Fishes  is  spherical,  and  those 
in  the  Eye  of  Trilobites  are  nearly  so,  there  seems  to  be  in  this  form  an 
adaptation  to  the  medium  of  Water,  which  would  lead  iis  to  expect  to 
find  a  similar  form  of  lens  in  the  compound  Eyes  of  all  marine  Crustacea, 
and  probably  a  different  form  in  the  compound  Eyes  of  Insects  that  live  in 
Air. 

f  The  facetted  eyes  of  Bees  are  disposed  most  favourably  for  horizontal 
vision,  and  for  looking  downwards. — Lib.  Ent.  Knowl.  v.  xu.  p.  130. 
VOL.  I, — 26 


302  SIMILAR  EYES  IN  COGNATE  CRUSTACEANS. 

vision,  each  eye  is  nearly  hemispherical,  and  placed  on  a 
peduncle  by  which  it  is  projected  to  the  distance  requisite 
to  effect  this  purpose.     (See  PI.  45,  Fig,  3,  b,  and  b'.) 

In  the  Scrolls  (PI.  45,  Fig.  6.  b'.,)  the  disposition  of  the 
eye,  and  its  range  of  vision,  are  similar  to  those  in  the  Tri- 
lobite;  but  the  summit  of  the  eye  is  less  elevated;  as  the  flat 
back  of  this  animal  presents  little  obstruction  to  the  rays  of 
light  from  surrounding  objects.* 

In  the  Limulus  (PI.  45,  Fig.  1.,)  vv^here  the  side  eyes  (b, 
b')  are  sessile,  and  do  not  command  the  space  immediately 
before  the  head,  two  other  simple  eyes  (b")  are  fixed  in 
front,  compensating  for  the  want  of  range  in  the  compound 
eyes  over  objects  in  that  direction.f 

In  the  above  comparison  of  the  eyes  of  Trilobites,  with 
those  of  the  Limulus,  SeroUs,  and  Branchipus,  we  have 
placed  side  by  side,  examples  of  the  construction  of  that 
most  delicate  and  complex  organ  the  eye,  selected  from 
each  extreme,  and  from  a  midway  place  in  the  progressive 
series  of  animal  creations.  We  find  in  Trilobites  of  the 
Transition  rocks,  which  were  among  the  most  ancient  forms 
of  animal  life,  the  same  modifications  of  this  organ  which 
are  at  the  present  time  adapted  to  similar  functions  in  the 
living  SeroHs.  The  same  kind  of  instrument  was  also  em- 
ployed  in  those  middle  periods  of  geological  chronology 
when  the  Secondary  strata  were  deposited  at  the  bottom  of 
a  warm  sea,  inhabited  by  Limuli,  in  the  regions  of  Europe 
which  now  form  the  elevated  plains  of  central  Germany. 

•  Fig.  1.  b',  Fig.  3.  b'.  and  Fig.  6.  b'.  are  magnified  representations  of 
the  eyes  to  which  these  figures  arc  respectively  adjacent.  Figs.  10.  and  11. 
are  differently  magnified  forms  of  the  eye  of  Asaphus  caiidatus,  which  in 
Fig.  9.  is  represented  of  its  natural  size.  A  few  of  these  lenses  are  semi- 
transparent;  they  are  still  set  in  their  original  rims,  or  frame-work  of  t!ie 
cornea,  the  whole  being  converted  into  calcareous  spar. 

■|-  These  eyes  are  placed  so  close  together,  that,  having  been  mistaken  for 
a  single  eye,  they  caused  the  name  of  Monoculus  Polyphemus  to  be  applied 
to  this  animal  by  Linnxus. 


GENERAL  RESULTS.  303 

The  results  arising  from  these  facts  are  not  confined  to 
animal  Physiology;  they  give  information  also  regarding 
the  condition  of  the  ancient  Sea  and  ancient  Atmosphere, 
and  the  relations  of  both  these  media  to  Light,  at  that  re- 
mote period  when  the  earliest  marine  animals  were  fur- 
nished with  instruments  of  vision,  in  which  the  minute 
optical  adaptations  were  the  same  that  impart  the  percep- 
tion of  light  to  Crustaceans  now  living  at  the  bottom  of  the 
sea. 

With  respect  to  the  waters  wherein  the  Trilobites  main- 
tained their  existence  throughout  the  entire  period  of  the 
Transition  formation,  we  conclude  that  they  could  not  have 
been  that  imaginary  turbid  and  compound  Chaotic  fluid, 
from  the  precipitates  of  which  some  Geologists  have  sub- 
posed  the  materials  of  the  surface  of  the  earth  to  be  de- 
rived ;  because  the  structure  of  the  eyes  of  these  animals  is 
such,  that  any  kind  of  fluid  in  which  they  could  have  been 
eflicient  at  the  bottom,  must  have  been  pure  and  transparent 
enough  to  allow  the  passage  of  Hght  to  organs  of  vision,  the 
nature  of  which  is  so  fully  disclosed  by  the  state  of  perfec- 
tion in  which  they  are  preserved. 

With  regard  to  the  Atmosphere  also  we  infer,  that  had  it 
diflfered  materially  from  its  actual  condition,  it  might  have 
so  far  affected  the  rays  of  Light,  that  a  corresponding  dif- 
ference from  the  eyes  of  existing  Crustaceans  would  have 
been  found  in  the  organs  on  which  the  impressions  of  such 
rays  were  then  received. 

Regarding  Light  itself  also,  we  learn  from  the  resem- 
blance of  these  most  ancient  organizations  to  existing  eyes, 
tiiat  the  mutual  relations  of  Light  to  the  Eye,  and  of  the 
Eye  to  Light,  were  the  same  at  the  time  when  Crustaceans 
endowed  wdth  the  faculty  of  vision  were  first  placed  at  the 
bottom  of  the  primeval  seas,  as  at  the  present  moment. 

Thus  we  find  among  the  earliest  organic  remains,  an 
Optical  instrument  of  most  curious  construction,  adapted  to 
produce  vision  of  a  peculiar  kind,  in  the  then  existing  repre- 


304  ANCIENT  SEA  AND  ATMOSPHERE,  AND  LIGHT. 

sentatives  of  one  great  Class  in  the  Articulated  division  of 
the  Animal  Kingdom.  We  do  not  find  this  instrument  pass- 
ing onwards,  as  it  were,  through  a  series  of  experimental 
changes,  from  more  simple  into  more  complex  forms;  it 
was  created  at  the  very  first,  in  the  fulness  of  perfect  adap- 
tation to  the  uses  and  condition  of  the  class  of  creatures,  to 
which  this  kind  of  eye  has  ever  been,  and  is  still  appro- 
priate. 

If  we  should  discover  a  microscope,  or  telescope,  in  the 
hand  of  an  Egyptian  Mummy,  or  beneath  the  ruins  of  Her- 
culaneum^  it  would  be  impossible  to  deny  that  a  knowledge 
of  the  principles  of  Optics  existed  in  the  mind  by  which  such 
an  instrument  had  been  contrived.  The  same  inference  fol- 
lows, but  with  cumulative  force,  when  we  see  nearly  four 
hundred  microscopic  lenses  set  side  by  side,  in  the  com- 
pound eye  of  a  fossil  Trilobite ;  and  the  weight  of  the  ar- 
gument is  multiphed  a  thousand  fold,  when  we  look  to  the 
infinite  variety  of  adaptations  by  which  similar  instruments 
have  been  modified,  through  endless  genera  and  species, 
from  the  long-lost  Trilobites,  of  the  Transition  strata,  through 
the  extinct  Crustaceans  of  the  Secondary  and  Tertiary  for- 
mations, and  thence  onward  throughout  existing  Crustaceans^ 
and  the  countless  hosts  of  living  Insects. 

It  appears  impossible  to  resist  the  conclusions  as  to  Unitj^ 
of  Design  in  a  common  Author,  which  are  thus  attested  by 
such  cumulative  evidences  of  Creative  Intelligence  and 
Power ;  both,  as  infinitely  surpassing  the  most  exalted  fa- 
culties of  the  human  mind,  as  the  mechanisms  of  the  na- 
tural world,  when  magnified  by  the  highest  microscopes, 
are  found  to  transcend  the  most  perfect  productions  of  hu- 
man art. 


DOSSIL    ARACHNIDANS.  305 


r  SECTION  III. 

Third  Class  of  Articulated  Animals. 

FOSSIL  ARACHNIDANS. 

Under  the  relations  that  now  subsist  between  the  animal 
and  vegetable  kingdoms,  the  connexion  of  terrestrial  Plants 
with  Insects  is  so  direct  and  universal,  that  each  species  of 
plant  is  considered  to  afford  nutriment  to  three  or  four 
species  of  insects.  The  General  principle  which  we  have 
traced  throughout  the  Secondary  and  Tertiary  formations, 
ever  operating  to  maintain  on  the  surface  of  the  earth  the 
greatest  possible  amount  of  life,  affords  a  strong  antecedent 
probability  that  so  large  a  mass  of  terrestrial  vegetables  as 
that  which  is  preserved  in  the  Carboniferous  strata  of  the 
Transition  series,  held  the  same  relation,  as  the  basis  of 
nutriment  to  Insect  families  of  this  early  date,  that  modern 
vegetables  do  to  this  most  numerous  class  of  existing  ter- 
restrial animals. 

Still  farther,  the  actual  provisions  for  restraining  this  In~ 
sect  class  within  due  bounds,  by  the  controlling  agency  of 
the  carnivorous  Arachnidans  would  lead  us  to  expect  that 
Spiders  and  Scorpions  were  employed  in  similar  service 
during  the  successive  geological  epochs,  in  which  M-e  have 
evidence  of  the  abundant  growth  of  terrestrial  vegetables. 

Some  recent  discoveries  confirm  the  argument  from  these 
analogies,  by  the  test  of  actual  observation.  The  two  great 
families  in  the  higher  order  of  Uving  Arachnidans  (Pulmo- 
narias)  are  Spiders  and  Scorpions ;  and  we  have  evidence 
to  show  that  fossil  remains  of  both  these  families  exist  ia 
strata  of  very  high  antiquity. 

26* 


306  FOSSIL    SPIDERS. 


Possil  Spiders.. 

Although  no  Spiders  have  been  yet  discovered  in  any 
rocks  so  ancient  as  the  Carboniferous  series,  the  presence 
of  Insects  in  this  series,  and  also  of  Scorpions,  renders  it 
highly  probable  that  the  cognate  family  of  Spiders  was  co- 
ordinate with  Scorpions,  in  restraining  the  Insect  tribes  of 
this  early  epoch,  and  that  it  will  ere  long  be  recognised 
among  its  fossil  remains.* 

The  existence  of  Spiders  in  the  Jurassic  portion  of  the 
Secondary  formations  has  been  established,  by  Count  Hun- 
ter's discovery  of  two  species  in  the  hthographic  limestone 
of  Solenhofen.  M..  Marcel  de  Serres  and  Mr.  Murchison 
have  discovered  fossil  Spiders  in  Fresh-water  Tertiary  strata 
near  Aix  in  Provence.     (See  PI.  46",  Fig.  12.) 

*  The  animal  found  by  Me.  W.  Anslice  in  the  Iron-stone  of  Coalbrook. 
Dale,  and  noticed  by  Mr.  Prestvvich  as  "apparently  a  Spider"  (Phil.  Mag. 
May,  1834,  V.  iv.  p.  376,)  has  been  subsequently  laid  open  by  me,  and 
shown  to  be  an  Insect,  belonging  to  the  family  of  Curculionidae.  (PI  46", 
Fig.  1.)  At  the  time  when  it  was  figured,  and  supposed  to  be  a  Spider, 
its  head  and  tail  were  covered  by  iron-stone,  and  its  appearance  much 
resembled  an  animal  of  this  kind.  Mr.  Prestwich  announces  also  the 
discovery,  in  the  same  formation,  of  a  Coleopterous  Insect,  which  will 
be  fartiicr  described  in  our  next  section,  as  referable  also  to  the  Circu- 
lionidce. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  ascertain  the  precise  nature  of  the  animals,  rudely 
figured  as  Spiders  and  Insects  on  Coal  slate  by  Lhwyd,  (Ichnograph,  Tab_ 
4,)  and  copied  by  Parkinson,  (Org.  Rem.  \^'.  iii.  PI.  17,  Figs,  3,  4,  5,  6;) 
but  his  opinion  of  them  is  rendered  highly  probable  by  the  recent  discoveries 
in  Coalbrook  Dale  :  "  Scrips!  olim  suspicari  me  Araneorum  quorundam 
icones,  unii  cum  Lilhophytis  in  Schisto  Carbonaria,  observasse  :  hoc  jam 
ulteriore  experientia  edoctus  aperte  assero.  Alias  icones  habeo,  quas  ad 
Scarabffiorum  genus  quJim  proximo  acccdunt.  In  posterum  ergo  non  tan- 
ttim  Lthophyta,  sed  etquaedam  Insecta  in  hoc  lapidc  investigarc  conabimur." 
Uuvyd  Epist.  iii,  ad  fin. 


FOSSIL  SCORPIONS.  307 


Fossil'  Scorpions. 

The  address  of  my  friend  Count  Sternberg  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  National  Museum  of  Bohemia  (Prague,  1835,) 
contains  an  account  of  his  discovery  of  a  fossil  Scorpion  in 
the  ancient  Coal  formation  at  the  village  of  Chomle,  near 
Radnitz,  on  the  S.  W.  of  Prague.  This  most  instructive 
fossil  (the  first  of  its  kind  yet  noticed)  was  found  in  July, 
1834,  in  a  stone-quarry,  on  the  outcrop  of  the  Coal  measures,. 
near  a  spot  where  coal  has  been  wrought  since  the  sixteenth 
century.  In  the  same  quarry  were  found  four  erect  trunks 
of  trees,  and  numerous  vegetable  remains,  of  the  same  spe- 
cies that  occur  in  the  great  Coal  formation  of  England. 

A  series  of  drawings  of  this  Scorpion  was  submitted  to  a 
select  committee  at  the  meeting  of  NaturaUsts  and  Physi- 
cians of  Germany,  in  Stutgard,  1834 ;  and  from  their  re- 
port the  subjoined  particulars  are  taken.  All  our  Figures, 
(PI.  45'.)  are  copied  from  those  attached  to  this  Report,  in 
the  Transactions  of  the  Museum  of  Bohemia,  April,  1835.* 

*  This  fossil  Scorpion  differs  from  existing  species,  less  in  general  struc- 
ture than  in  the  position  of  the  eyes..  In  the  latter  respect,  it  approaclies 
nearest  to  the  genus  Androctonus,  which,  like  it,  has  twelve  eyes,  but  dif- 
ferently disposed  from  those  of  the  fossil  species.  From  the  nearly  circular 
arrangement  of  these  orgnns  in  the  latter  animal,  it  has  been  ranged  under 
a  new  genus,  Cyclopihahnus. 

The  sockets  of  all  tiicse  twelve  eyes  are  perfectly  preserved,  (PI.  46'.  fig. 
3.)  One  of  the  small  eyes,  and  the  left  large  eye,  still  retain  their  form, 
with  the  cornea  preserved  in  a  wrinkled  state,  and  their  interior  filled  with 
earth: 

The  jaws  also  arc  very  distinct,  but  in  a  reversed  position.  (PI.  4G'.  fig,.. 
2.  a.)  Both  these  jaws  have  three  projecting  teeth,  and  one  of  them  (PI.  46', 
Figs.  4.  5.)  exhibits,  when  magnified,  the  hairs  with  which  its  horny  inte- 
gument was  covered. 

The  rings  of  the  thorax,  (apparently  eight)  and  of  the  tail,  are  too  much 
dislocated  for  their  number  to  be  accurately  distinguished,  but  they  differ 
5  from  all  known  species.  The  view  of  the  back  (PI.  46',  Fig.  1.)  has  been 
obtained  by  cutting  into  the  stone  from  behind. 

The  under  surface  of  the  animal  is  well  exposed  in  Fig.  2,  with  its  cha- 


308  FOSSIL  INSECTS. 

As  far  as  we  can  argue  from  the  analogy  of  living  species, 
the  presence  of  large  Scorpions  is  a  certain  index  of  the 
warmth  of  the  climate  in  which  they  lived ;  and  this  indica- 
tion is  in  perfect  harmony  with  those  afforded  by  the  tropi- 
cal aspect  of  the  vegetables  with  which  the  Scorpion,  found 
in  the  Bohemian  coal-field,  is  associated. 


SECTION  IV. 


Fourth  Class  of  Articulated  Animals. 

FOSSIL     INSECTS.* 

Although  the  numerical  amount  of  living  Insects  forms 
so  vast  a  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  present  land,  few 
traces  of  this  large  class  of  Articulated  animals  have  yet 
been  discovered  in  a  fossil  state.  This  may  probably  re- 
sult from  the  circumstance,  that  the  greatest  portion  of  fossil 
animal  remains  are  derived  from  the  inhabitants  oi  salt  water ^ 

racteristic  pincers  on  the  right  claw.  Between  this  claw  and  the  tail  lies  a 
fossil  carbonized  Seed,  of  a  species  common  in  the  Coal  formation. 

The  horny  covering  of  this  Scorpion  is  in  a  most  extraordinary  state  of 
preservation,  being  neither  decomposed  nor  carbonized.  The  peculiar  sub- 
stance {Chitine  or  Elytrine)  of  which,  like  the  elytra  of  Beetles,  it  is  pro- 
bably composed,  has  resisted  decomposition  and  mineralization.  It  can 
readily  be  stripped  off,  is  elastic,  translucent,  and  horny.  It  consists  of  two 
layers,  both  retaining  their  texture.  The  uppermost  of  these  (PI.  46',  Fig. 
6.  a.) , is  harsh,  almost  opaque,  of  a  dark-brown  colour,  and  flexible;  the 
under  skin  (PI.  46',  Fig.  6.  b.)  is  tender,  yellow,  less^  elastic,  and  organ- 
ized like  the  upper.  The  structure  of  both  exhibits,  under  the  microscope, 
liexagonal  cells,  divided  by  strong  partitions.  Both  are  penetrated  at  in- 
tervals by  pores,  which  arc  still  open,  each  having  a  sunk  areola,  with  a 
minute  opening  at  its  centre  for  the  orifices  of  the  trachea.  Fig.  7.  repre- 
sents impressions  of  the  nmscular  fibres  connected  willi  the  movement  o£ 
tiie  legs. 

»  See  PI.  46".  Figs.  1.  2.  Si.  4.— 11., 


INSECTS    IN    THE    COAL    FORMATION.  309 

a  medium  in  which  only  one  or  two  species  of  Insects  are 
now  supposed  to  live. 

Had  no  indications  of  Insects  been  discovered  in  a  fossil 
state,  the  presence  in  any  strata,  of  Scorpions  or  Spiders 
both  belonging  to  families  constructed  to  feed  on  Insects^ 
would  have  afforded  a  strong  a  priori  argument,  in  favour 
of  the  probability,  of  the  contemporaneous  existence  of  that 
very  numerous  class  of  animals,  which  now  forms  the  prey 
of  the  Arachnidans.  This  probability  has  been  recently 
confirmed  by  the  discovery  of  two  Coleoptera  of  the  family 
Curculionidse  in  the  Iron-stone  of  Coalbrook  Dale,*  and 
also  of  the  wing  of  a  Corydalis,  which  will  be  noticed  in  our 
description  of  PI.  46". 

It  is  very  interesting  and  important,  to  have  discovered 
in  the  Coal  formation  fossil  remains,  which  establish  the  ex- 
istence of  the  great  Insectivorous  Class  Arachnidans,  at  this 
early  period.  It  is  no  less  important  to  have  found  also  in 
the  same  formation  the  remains  of  Insects,  which  may  have 
formed  their  prey.  Had  neither  of  these  discoveries  been 
made,  the  abundance  of  Land  plants  would  have  implied 
the  probable  abundance  of  Insects,  and  this  probabilit} 
would  have  involved  also  that  of  the  contemporaneous  exist- 
ence of  Arachnidans,  to  control  their  undue  increase.  All 
these  probabilities  are  now  reduced  to  certainty,  and  we  are 
thus  enabled  to  fill  up  what  has  hitherto  appeared  a  blank  in 
the  history  of  animal  life,  from  those  very  distant  times  when 
the  Carboniferous  strata  were  deposited. 

The  Estuary,  or  Fresh-water  formation  of  those  strata  of 
the  Corboniferous  series  which  contain  shells  of  Unio,  in 
Coalbrook  Dale,  and  in  other  Coal  basins,  renders  the  pre- 
sence of  Insects  and  Ai-achnidans  in  such  strata,  easy  of 
explanation;  they  may   have   been   drifted  from  adjacent 

*  Our  figures  (PI.  46".  Figs.  1.  2.)  represent  these  fossils  of  their  na- 
tural size.  See  description  of  this  Plate  for  farther  details  respecting 
them. 


310  INSECTS    IN    SECONDARY    AND    TERTIARY    STRATA. 

lands,  by  the  same  torrents  that  transported,  the  terrestrial 
vegetables  which  have  produced  the  beds  of  Coal. 

The  existence  of  the  w^ing-covers  of  insects  in  the  Second- 
ary Series,  in  the  Oolitic  slate  of  Stonesfield,  has  been  long 
known;  these  are  all  Coleopterous,  and  in  the  opinion  of 
Mr.  Curtis  many  of  them  approach  most  nearly  to  the 
Buprestis,  a  genus  now  most  abundant  in  warm  latitudes. 
(See  PI.  46''.  Figs.  4.  5.  6.  7.  8.  9.  10.*) 

Count  Munster  has  in  his  collection  twenty-five  species 
of  fossil  insects,  found  in  the  Jurassic  Limestone  of  Solen- 
hofen ;  among  these  are  five  species  of  the  existing  Family 
of  Libellula,  (See  PI.  1,  Fig.  49,)  a  large  Ranatra,  and 
several  Coleoptera. 

Numerous  fossil  Insects  have  recently  been  discovered  in 
the  Tertiary  Gypsum  of  Fresh-water  formation  at  Aix,  in 
Provence.  M.  Marcel  de  Serres  speaks  of  sixty-two  Genera, 
chiefly  of  the  Orders  Diptera,  Hemiptera,  and  Coleoptera  ; 
and  Mr.  Curtis  refers  all  the  specimens  he  has  seen  from  Aix 
to  European  forms,  and  most  of  them  to  existing  Genera.f 
Insects  occur  also  in  the  tertiary  Brown  coal  of  Orsberg  on 
the  Rhine. 

*  M.Aug-  Odier  has  ascertained,  that  the  Elytra  and  other  parts  of  the 
horny  covering  of  insects,  contain  the  peculiar  substance  Chitine  or  Ely- 
trine,  which  approaches  nearly  to  the  vegetable  principle  Lignine  ;  these 
parts  of  insects  burn  without  fusion,  or  swelling,  like  horn,  and  witiiout 
the  smell  of  animal  matter;  they  also  leave  a  Coal  which  retains  their 
form. 

M.  Odier  found  that  even  the  hairs  of  a  Scarahccus  nasicornis  retained 
their  form  after  burning,  and  therefore  concludes  that  they  are  different 
from  the  hairs  of  vertebral  animals.  This  circumstance  explains  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  hairs  on  the  horny  cover  of  the  Bohemian  Scorpion. 

He  ascertained  also  that  the  Sinews  (Nervures)  of  Scaraba;i,  are  composed 
of  Chitine,  and  that  the  soft  flexible  laminae  of  the  shell  of  a  crab,  which 
remain  after  the  separation  of  the  Lime,  also  contain  Ciiitine. 

Cuvier  observes,  that  the  Integuments  of  Entomostracons,  are  rather  horny 
than  calcareous,  and  that  in  this  respect  they  approximate  to  the  nature  of 
Insects  and  Arachnidans.    See  Zoological  Journal,    London,  1825,  vol.  i.  p. 

101. 

•J-  See  Edinburgh  New  Phil.  Journ.  Oct.  1829. 


GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS.  311 


General  Conclusions. 


We  have  seen  from  the  examples  cited  in  the  last  four 
sections,  that  all  of  the  four  existing  great  Classes  of  the 
grand  Division  of  Articulated  animals,  viz.  Annelidans, 
Crustaceans,  Arachnidans,  and  Insects,  and  many  of  their 
Orders,  had  entered  on  their  respective  functions  in  the  na- 
tural world,  at  the  early  epoch  of  the  Transition  formations; 
We  find  evidences  of  change  in  the  Families  of  these  Orders, 
at  several  periods  of  the  Secondary  and  Tertiary  series, 
very  distant  from  one  another;  and  we  farther  find  each 
Family  variously  represented  during  different  intervals  by 
Genera,  some  of  which  are  known  only  in  a  fossil  state, 
whilst  others  (and  these  chiefly  in  the  lower  Classes,  have 
extended  through  all  geological  Eras  unto  the  present  time. 

On  these  facts  we  may  found  conclusions  which  are  of 
great  importance  in  the  investigation  of  the  physical  history 
of  the  earth.  If  the  existing  Classes,  Orders,  and  Families 
of  Marine  and  terrestrial  Articulated  animals  have  thus  per- 
vaded various  geological  epochs,  since  life  began  upon  our 
planet,  we  may  infer  that  the  state  of  the  Land  and  Waters, 
and  also  of  the  Atmosphere,  during  all  these  Epochs,  was 
not  so  widely  different  from  their  actual  condition  as  many 
geologists  have  supposed.  We  also  learn  that  throughout 
all  these  epochs  and  stages  of  change,  the  correlative  Func- 
tions of  the  successive  Representatives  of  the  Animal  and 
vegetable  kingdoms  have  ever  been  the  same  as  at  the  pre- 
sent moment ;  and  thus  we  connect  the  entire  series  of  past 
and  present  forms  of  organized  beings,  as  parts  of  one  stu- 
pendously grand,  and  consistent,  and  harmonious  Whole. 


312  FOSSIL  ECHINO DEEMS. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Proof  of  Design  in  the  Structure  of  Fossil  Radiated  Animals, 
or  Zoophytes. 

The  same  difficulties  which  we  have  felt  in  selecting  from 
other  grand  Divisions  of  the  animal  kingdom,  subjects  of 
comparison  between  the  extinct  and  living  forms  of  their  re- 
spective Classes,  Orders,  and  Families,  embarrass  our  choice 
also  from  the  last  Division  that  remains  for  consideration. 
Volumes  might  be  filled  with  descriptions  of  fossil  species  of 
those  beautiful  genera  of  Radiated  Animals,  whose  living 
representatives  crowd  the  waters  of  our  present  seas. 

The  result  of  all  comparisons  between  the  living  and  fossil 
species  of  these  families  would  be,  that  the  latter  differ  al- 
most always  in  species,  and  often  in  genus,  fi'om  those 
which  actually  exist ;  but  that  all  are  so  similarly  constructed 
on  one  and  tlie  same  general  Type,  and  show  such  perfect 
Unity  of  Design  throughout  the  infinitely  varied  medica- 
tions, under  which  they  now  perform,  and  ever  have  per- 
formed the  functions  allotted  to  them,  that  we  can  find  no 
explanation  of  such  otherwise  mysterious  Uniformity,  than 
by  referring  it  to  the  agency  of  one  and  the  same  Creative 
Intelligence. 


SECTION  I. 


FOSSIL     ENCHINODERMS. 


The  animals  that  compose  this  highest  Class  in  the  grand 
division  of  Radiated  animals,  viz.  Echinidans,  Stelleridans, 
and  Crinoideans,  have,  till  lately,  been  considered  as  made 


ENCHINIDANS  AND  STELLERIDANS.  313 

up  of  many  similar  parts  disposed  like  Rays  around  a  com- 
mon centre. 

Mr.  Agassiz  has  recently  shown,  (London  and  Edin. 
Phil.  Mag.  Nov.  1834,  p.  309,)  that  they  do  not  partake  of 
this  character,  from  which  the  division  of  radiated  animals 
is  named;  but  that  their  rays  are  dissimilar,  and  not  always 
connected  with  a  uniform  centre ;  and  that  a  bilateral  sym- 
metry, analogous  to  that  of  the  more  perfect  classes  of  ani- 
mals, exists  throughout  the  families  of  Echini,  Asteriaa^,  and 
Crinoidea. 

ECHINIDANS  AND  STELLERIDANS. 

The  History  of  the  fossil  species  of  Echinidans  and  Stel- 
leridans  has  been  most  beautifully  illustrated,  in  the  plates 
of  the  Petrefacten  of  Prof.  Goldfuss.  Though  derived  from 
Strata  of  various  degrees  of  high  antiquity,  they  are  for  the 
most  part  referred  by  him  to  existing  Genera. 

The  family  of  Echinidans  appears  to  have  extended 
through  all  formations,  from  the  Epoch  of  the  Transition 
series  to  the  present  time.* 

No  fossil  Stelleridans  have  yet  been  noticed  in  strata  more 
ancient  than  the  Muschelkalk. 

As  the  structure  of  the  fossil  species  of  both  these  families 
is  so  nearly  identical  with  that  of  existing  Echini,  and  Star- 
fishes, I  shall  confine  my  observations  respecting  fossil  ani- 
mals in  the  class  of  Echinoderms  to  a  family  which  is  of 
rare  occurrence,  excepting  in  a  fossil  state,  and  which  seems 
to  have  prevailed  most  abundantly  in  the  most  ancient  fos- 
siliferous  formations. 

•  I  found  many  years  ago  fossil  Echinidans  in  the  Carboniferous  lime- 
stone of  Ireland,  near  Donegal,  they  are  however  rare  in  the  Transition  for- 
mation, become  more  frequent  in  the  Muschelkalk  and  Lias,  and  abound 
throughout  the  Oolitic  and  Cretaceous  formations. 

VOL.  I. — 27 


314  CRINOIDEANS- 


CKINOIDEANS. 


Among  the  fossil  families  of  the  Radiated  division  of  ani- 
mals, the  Geologist  discovers  one  whose  living  analogues  are 
seldom  seen,  and  whose  vast  numerical  extent  and  extraor- 
dinary beauty  entitle  it  to  peculiar  consideration. 

Successions  of  strata,  each  many  feet  in  thickness,  and 
many  miles  in  extent,  are  often  half  made  up  of  the  calca- 
reous skeletons  of  Encrinites.  The  Entrochal  Marble  of 
Derbyshire,  and  the  Black  rock  in  the  cliffs  of  Carboniferous 
limestone  near  Bristol,  are  well  known  examples  of  strata 
thus  composed ;  and  show  how  largely  the  bodies  of  Ani- 
mals have  occasionally  contributed  by  their  remains,  to 
swell  the  Volume  of  materials  that  now  compose  the  mine- 
ral world. 

The  fossil  remains  of  this  order  have  been  long  known 
by  the  name  of  Stone  Lilies,  or  Encrinites,  and  have  lately 
been  classed  under  a  separate  order  by  the  name  of  Cri- 
no'idea. 

This  order  comprehends  many  Genera  and  numerous 
Species,  and  is  ranged  by  Cuvier  after  the  Asteriae,  in  the 
division  of  Zoophytes.  Nearly  all  the  species  appear  to 
have  been  attached  to  the  bottom  of  the  Sea,  or  to  floating 
extraneous  bodies.* 

•  These  animals  form  tlie  subject  of  an  elaborate  and  excellent  work, 
by  Mr.  Miller,  entitled  a  Natural  History  of  the  Crinoidea,  or  Lily-shaped 
Animals.  The  representations  at  Pi.  48,  and  Pi.  49,  Fig^.  1.  of  one  of  the 
most  characteristic  species  of  this  family,  being'  that  to  which  the  name 
of  stone-lily  was  first  applied;  and  the  fig'ures  of  two  other  species  at  Pi. 
47,  Fig.  1,2,  5,  will  exemply  the  following  definition  given  of  them  by 
Mr.  Miller.  "An  animal  with  a  round,  oval,  or  angular  column,  composed 
of  numerous  articulating  joints,  supporting  at  its  summit,  a  series  of  plates, 
or  joints,  which  form  a  cup-like  body,  containing  the  viscera,  from  whose 
upper  rim  proceed  five  articulated  arms,  dividing  into  tentaculated  fingers, 
more  or  less  nnmevous,  surrounding  the  aperture  of  the  mouth,  (Pi.  47. 
Figs.  6,  X.  7,  x)  situated  in  the  centre  of  a  plated  integument,  which  ex- 
tends over  the  abdominal  cavity,  and  is  capable  of  being  contracted  into  a 
conical  or  proboscal  shape," 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  FOSSIL  CRINOIDEANS.  315 

The  two  most  remarkable  Genera  of  this  famiiy  have 
been  long  known  to  Naturalists  by  the  name  of  Encrinite 
and  Pentacrinite ;  the  former  (see  PI.  49,  Fig.  1,  and  PI. 
47,  Figs.  1.  2.  5.)  most  nearly  resembling  the  external  form 
of  a  Lily,  placed  on  a  circular  stem  ;  the  latter  (see  PI.  51, 
and  PI.  52,  Fig.  1,  3,)  retaining  the  general  analogies  of 
structure  presented  by  the  Encrinite,  but,  from  the  penta- 
gonal form  of  its  stem,  denominated  Pentacrinite.  A  third 
Genus,  called  Apiocrinites,  or  Pear  Encrinite,  (PI.  47.  Figs. 
1,  2.)  exhibits,  on  a  larger  scale,  the  component  parts  of 
bodies  of  this  family ;  and  has  been  placed  by  Mr.  Miller  at 
the  head  of  his  valuable  work  on  the  CrinoVdea,  from  which 
many  of  the  following  descriptions  and  illustrations  will  be 
collected. 

Two  existing  species  of  recent  animals  throw  much  light 
on  the  nature  of  these  fossil  remains ;  viz.  the  Pentacrinus 
Caput  Medusae  from  the  West  Indies,  represented  at  PI.  52, 
Fig.  1.  and  the  Gomatula  fimbriata,*  figured  in  the  first  plate 
of  Miller's  Crinoidea. 

We  will  proceed  to  consider  the  mechanical  provisions 
in  the  structure  of  two  or  three  of  the  most  important  fossil 
species  of  this  family,  viewed  in  relation  to  their  office  as 
Zoophytes,  destined  to  find  their  nourishment  by  spreading 
their  nets  and  moving  their  bodies  through  a  limited  space, 
from  a  fixed  position  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea  ;  or  by  em- 
ploying the  same  instruments,  either  when  floating  singly 
through  the  water,  or  attached,  like  the  modern  Pentelasmis 
anatifera,  to  floating  pieces  of  wood. 

Although  the  representatives  of  CrinoYdeans  in  our  modern 
seas  of  rare  occurrence,  this  family  was  of  vast  numeri- 

*  The  Comatula  presents  a  conformity  of  structure  with  that  of  the  Penta- 
crinite, almost  perfect  in  every  essential  part,  excepting  that  the  column  is 
either  wanting,  or  at  least  reduced  to  a  single  plate.  Peron  states  that  the 
Comatula  suspends  itself  by  its  side-arms  from  fuci,  and  Polyparies,  and  in 
this  position  watches  for  its  prey,  and  attains  it  by  its  spreading  arms  and 
fingers.     Miller,  p.  182. 


316  BONY  STRUCTURE  OF  CRINOIDEANS. 

cal  importance  among  the  earliest  inhabitants  of  the  ancient 
deep.*  The  extensive  range  W'hich  it  formerly  occupied 
among  the  earliest  inhabitants  of  our  Planet,  may  be  esti- 
mated from  the  fact,  that  the  CrinoYdeans  already  discovered 
have  been  arranged  in  four  divisions,  comprising  nine  genera, 
most  of  them  containing  several  species,  and  each  individual 
exhibiting,  in  every  one  of  its  many  thousand  component 
little  bonesjf  a  mechanism  which  shows  them  all  to  have 
formed  parts  of  a  well-contrived  and  delicate  mechanical 
instrument;  every  part  acting  in  due  connexion  with  the 
rest,  and  all  adjusted  to  each  other  with  a  view  to  the  per- 
fect performance  of  some  peculiar  function  in  the  economy 
of  each  individual. 

The  joints,  or  little  bones,  of  which  the  skeletons  of  all 
these  animals  were  composed,  resemble  those  of  the  star- 
fish :  their  use,  hke  that  of  the  bony  skeleton  in  vertebral 
animals,  was  to  constitute  the  solid  support  of  the  whole 
body,  to  protect  the  viscera,  and  to  form  the  foundation  of 
a  system  of  contractile  fibres  pervading  the  gelatinous  in- 
tegument with  which  all  parts  of  the  animal  were  invested.J 

The  bony  portions  formed  the  great  bulk  of  the  animab 
as  they  do  in  star-fishes.  The  calcareous  matter  of  these 
little  bones  was  probably  secreted  by  a  Periosteum,  which 

*  The  monograph  of  Mr.  Miller,  exhibiling  the  minute  details  of  every 
variation  in  the  structure  of  each  cotnponcnt  part  in  the  several  Genera  of 
the  family  of  Crinoidea,  affords  an  admirable  exemplification  of  the  regu- 
larity, with  which  the  same  fundamental  type  is  rigidly  maintained  through 
all  the  varied  modifications  that  constitute  its  numerous  extinct  genera  and 
species. 

t  These  so-called  Ossicula  are  not  true  bones,  but  partake  of  the 
nature  of  the  shelly  Plates  of  Echini,  and  the  calcareous  joints  of  Star* 
fishes. 

I  As  the  contractile  fibres  of  radiated  animals  are  not  set  together  in 
the  same  complex  manner  as  the  true  muscles  of  the  higher  orders  of  ani- 
mals, the  term  Muscle,  in  its  strict  acceptation,  cannot  with  accuracy  be 
applied  to  Crinoideans ;  but,  as  most  writers  have  designated  by  this  term 
the  more  simple  contractile  fibres  which  move  their  little  bones,  it  will  be 
convenient  to  retain  it  in  our  descriptions  of  these  animals. 


LILY  ENCRINITE.  317 

in  cases  of  accident,  to  which  bodies  so  delicately  con- 
structed must  have  been  much  exposed  in  an  element  so 
stormy  as  the  sea,  seems  to  have  had  the  power  of  deposit- 
ing fresh  matter  to  repair  casual  injuries.  Mr.  Miller's 
work  abounds  with  examples  of  reparations  of  this  kind  in 
various  fossil  species  of  CrinoVdeans.  Our  PL  47,  Fig.  2,  a. 
represents  a  reparation  near  the  upper  portion  of  the  stem 
of  Apiocrinites  Rotundus. 

In  the  recent  Pentacrinus  (PI.  52,  Fig.  1,)  one  of  the 
arms  is  under  the  process  of  being  reproduced,  as  Crabs 
and  Lobsters  reproduce  their  lost  claws  and  legs,  and  many 
lizards  their  tails  and  feet.  The  arms  of  star-fishes  also, 
when  broken  off,  are  in  the  same  manner  reproduced. 

From  these  examples  we  see  that  the  power  of  repro- 
duction has  been  always  strongest  in  the  lowest  orders  of 
animals,  and  that  the  application  of  remedial  forces  has 
ever  been  duly  proportioned  to  the  liability  to  injury,  resulting 
from  the  habits  and  condition  of  the  creatures  in  which 
these  forces  are  most  powerfully  developed. 

Encrinites  Moniliformis, 

As  the  best  mode  of  explaining  the  general  economy  of 
the  Crinoi'dea,  will  be  to  examine  in  some  detail  the  anatomy 
of  a  single  species,  I  shall  select,  for  this  purpose,  that 
which  has  formed  the  type  of  the  order,  viz.  the  Encrinites 
moniliformis  (see  PI.  48,  49,  50.)  Minute  and  full  descrip- 
tions are  given  by  Parkinson  and  Miller  of  this  fossil,  show- 
ing it  to  combine  in  its  various  organs  a  union  of  mechanical 
contrivances,  which  adapt  each  part  to  its  peculiar  functions 
in  a  manner  infinitely  surpassing  the  most  perfect  con- 
trivances of  human  mechanism. 

Mr.  Parkinson*  states  that  after  a  careful  examination  he 
lias  ascertained  that,  independently  of  the  number  of  pieces 

*  Organic  Rcrrnins,  vol.  ii.  p.  180. 

27* 


318  LILY  ENCUINITE. 

which  may  be  contained  in  the  vertebral  column,  and 
which,  from  its  probable  length,  may  be  very  numerous,  the 
fossil  skeleton  of  the  superior  part  of  the  Lily  Encrinite 
(Encrinites  Moniliformis)  consists  of  at  least  26,000  pieces. 
See  PI.  50,  Figs.  1,  2,  3,  4,  &c.* 

Mr.  Miller  observes  that  this  number  would  increase 
most  surprisingly,  were  we  to  take  into  account  the  minute 
calcareous  plates  that  arc  interwoven  in  the  integument 
covering  the  abdominal  cavity  and  inner  surface  of  the 
fingers  and  tentacula.f 

We  will  first  examine  the  contrivances  in  the  joints,  of 
the  vertebral  column,  which  adapted  it  for  flexure  in  every 
direction,  and  then  proceed  to  consider  the  arrangement  of 
other  parts  of  the  body. 

These  joints  are  piled  on  each  other  like  the  masonry  of 
a  slender  Gothic  shaft,  but,  as  a  certain  degree  of  flexibiUty 
was  requisite  at  every  articulation,  and  the  amount  of  this 
flexure  varied  in  different  parts  of  the  column,  being  least 
at  the  base  and  greatest  at  the  summit,  we  find  proportion- 


*  Bones  of  the  Pelvis 5 

Ribs 5 

Clavicles 5 

Scapulsc       ........  5 

Arms.    Six  bones  in  each  of  the  ten  arms         ....  60 

Hands.     Eacii  hand   being  formed    of  two   fingers,  and  each 
finger  consisting  of  at   least  40   ossicula,  these  in  20  fingers 

make      ............  800 

Tentacula.     30  proceeding  from  each  of  the  G  bones  in  each  of 

the  ten  arms,  make 1800 

30   proceeding,  on  the  average,  from  each  of  the 

800  bones  of  the  fingers  make     ....  24,000 

Total    2G,680 
t  Although  the  names  here  used  are  borrowed  from  the  skeleton  of  verte- 
brated  animals,  and  are  not  strictly  applicable  to  radiated  Echinoderms,  it 
w  ill  be  convenient  to  retain  them  until  the  comparative  anatomy  of  this  order 
of  animals  has  been  arranged  in  some  other  more  appropriate  manner. 


LILY  ENCRINITE.  319 

ate  variations  both  in  the  external  and  internal  form  and 
dimensions  of  each  part.*  The  varieties  of  form  and  con- 
trivance which  occur  in  the  column  of  a  single  species  of 
Encrinite,  may  serve  as  an  example  of  analogous  arrange- 
ments in  the  columns  of  other  species  of  the  family  of  Cri- 
noideans,  (see  PI.  47.  Figs.  1,2,  5,  and  PL  49.  Fig.  4  to 
Fig.  17.t) 

•  The  body  (Pi.  49,  Fig.  1)  is  supported  by  a  long  vertebral  column  at- 
tached to  the  ground  by  an  enlargement  of  its  base  (PI.  49,  Fig.  2.)  It  is 
composed  of  many  cylindrical  thick  joints,  articulating  firmly  with  each  other, 
and  having  a  central  aperture,  like  the  spinal  canal  in  the  vertebra  of  a  quad- 
ruped, through  which  a  small  alimentary  cavity  descends  from  the  stomach 
to  the  base  of  the  column,  PI.  49,  Fig.  4,  6,  8,  10.  The  form  of  the  column 
nearest  the  base  is  the  strongest  possible,  viz.  cylindrical.  This  column  is 
inten-upted,  at  intervals,  which  become  more  frequent  as  it  advances  up- 
wards, by  joints  of  wider  diameter  and  of  a  globular  depressed  form  (Pi,  49, 
Fig.  1,  and  Figs.  3,  4,  a,  a,  a,  a.)  Near  the  summit  of  the  column,  (Pi.  49, 
Figs.  3,  4,)  a  series  of  tliin  joints,  c,  c,  c,  is  jiluced  next  above  and  below 
each  largest  joint,  and  between  these  two  thin  joints,  there  is  introduced  a 
tliird  series,  b,  b,  b,  of  an  intermediate  size.  The  use  of  these  variations 
in  the  size  of  tiie  interpolated  joints  was  to  give  increased  flexibility  to  that 
])art  of  the  column,  which  being  nearest  to  its  summit  required  the  greatest 
power  of  flexion. 

At  Plate  49,  Figs.  6,  8,  10,  are  vertical  sections  of  the  columnar  joints 
5,  7,  9,  taken  near  the  base;  and  sliow  the  internal  cavity  of  the  column,  to 
be  arranged  in  a  series  of  double  hollow  cones,  like  the  intervertebral  cavi- 
ties in  the  back  of  a  fish,  and  to  be,  like  them,  subsidiary  to  the  flexion  of 
the  column;  they  probably  also  formed  a  reservoir  for  containing  the  nutri. 
tious  fluids  of  tiie  animals. 

The  various  kinds  of  Screw  stone  so  frequent  in  the  chert  of  Derbyshire, 
and  generally  in  the  Transition  Limestone,  are  casts  of  the  internal  cavities 
of  the  columns  of  other  species  of  Encrinites,  in  which  the  cones  are  usually 
more  compressed  than  in  the  column  of  the  E.  moniliformis. 

t  At  Pi.  49,  Fig.  4  is  a  vertical  section  of  Fig.  3,  being  a  portion  taken 
from  near  the  summit  of  the  column,  where  the  greatest  strength  and  flexure 
were  required,  and  where  also  the  risk  and  injury  and  dislocation  was  the 
greatest;  the  arrangement  of  these  vertebra  is  therefore  more  complex  than 
it  is  towards  the  base,  and  is  disposed  in  the  following  manner  (see  Fig.  4.) 
The  vertebrae,  a.  b.  c.  are  alternately  wider  and  narrower;  the  edges  of  the 
latter,  c.  are  received  into,  and  included  within,  the  perpendicularly  length- 


320  MECHANICAL  CONTRIVANCES  IN  ENCKINITE. 

The  name  of  Entrochi,  or  wheel  stones,  has  with  much 
propriety  been  applied  to  these  insulated  vertebrse.  The 
perforations  in  the  centre  of  these  joints  affording  a  facility 
for  stringing  them  as  beads,  has  caused  them,  in  ancient 
times,  to  be  used  as  rosaries.  In  the  northern  parts  of  Eng- 
land they  still  retain  the  appellation  of  St.  Cuthbert's  beads. 

On  a  rock  by  Lindisfarn 
Saint  Cuthbert  sits,  and  toils  to  frame 
The  sea-born  beads,  that  bear  his  name. 

Maiimion. 

Each  of  these  presents  a  similar  series  of  articulations, 
varying  as  we  ascend  upwards  through  the  body  of  the  ani- 
mal, every  joint  being  exactly  adjusted,  to  give  the  requisite 
amount  of  flexibility  and  strength.  From  one  extremity  of 
the  vertebral  column  to  the  other,  and  throughout  the  hands 

ened  margin  of  the  wider,  a.  b.;  the  outer  crenulated  edge  of  the  narrower 
included  vertebrs,  articulate  with  the  inner  crenulated  edge  of  the  wider 
vertebras,  which  thus  surround  them  with  a  collar,  that  admits  of  more 
oblique  flexion  than  the  plane  crenulated  surfaces  near  the  base  of  the 
column,  Figs.  9,  10,  and  at  the  same  time  rendere  dislocation  almost  impos- 
sible. 

To  these  is  superadded  a  third  contrivance,  which  still  farther  increases 
the  flexibility  and  strength  of  this  portion  of  the  column,  viz.  that  of  making 
the  alternate  larger  joints,  b.  b.  considerably  thinner  than  the  larger  collai' 
joints,  a.  a. 

The  figures  numbered  from  11  to  26  inclusive,  represent  single  vertebrx 
taken  from  various  portions  of  the  column  of  Encrinites  moniliformis.  The 
joints  at  Figs.  11,  13,  15,  17,  19,  21,  33,  25,  are  of  their  natural  size  and 
in  their  natural  horizontal  position,  and  show,  at  the  margin  of  each,  a  cre- 
r.ated  edge,  every  tooth  of  which  articulated  with  a  corresponding  depres- 
sion near  the  margin  of  the  adjacent  joint.  The  stellated  figures  (12,  14, 
16,  18,  20,  22,  24-,  26.)  placed  beneath  the  horizontal  joints  to  which  they 
respectively  belong,  are  magnified  representations  of  the  various  internal 
patterns  presented  by  their  articulating  surfaces,  variously  covered  with  an 
alternate  series  of  ridges  and  grooves,  that  like  tiie  cogs  of  two  wheels,  arti- 
culate with  corresponding  depressions  and  elevations  on  the  surfaces  of  the 
adjacent  vertebrse. 


STRUCTURE  OF  LILY  ENCRINITE.  321 

and  fingers  (see  PL  47,  figs.  1,  2,  3.  and  PL  50,  figs.  1,  2, 
3.,)  the  surface  of  each  bone  articulates  with  that  adjacent 
to  it,  with  the  most  perfect  reguL-irity  and  nicety  of  adjust- 
ment. So  exact,  and  methodical  is  this  arrangement,  even 
to  the  extremity  of  its  minutest  tentacula,  that  it  is  just  as 
improbable,  that  the  metals  which  compose  the  wheels  of  a 
chronometer  should  for  themselves  have  calculated  and 
arranged  the  form  and  number  of  the  teeth  of  each  respective 
wheel,  and  that  these  wheels  should  have  placed  themselves 
in  the  precise  position,  fitted  to  attain  the  end  resulting  from 
the  combined  action  of  them  all,  as  for  the  successive  hun- 
dreds and  thousands  of  little  bones  that  compose  an  Encri- 
nite,  to  have  arranged  themselves,  in  a  position  subordinate 
to  the  end  produced  by  the  combined  effect  of  their  united 
Mechanism;  each  acting  its  peculiar  part  in  harmonious 
subordination  to  the  rest,  and  all  conjointly  producing  a 
result  which  no  single  series  of  them  acting  separately,  could 
possibly  have  eflfected. 

In  PL  50  I  have  selected  from  Goldfuss,  Parkinson,  and 
Miller,  details  of  the  structure  of  the  body  and  upper  extre- 
mities of  Encrinites  Moniliformis,  or  Lily  Encrinite,  in  which 
the  component  parts '  are  indicated  by  letters,  explained  in 
the  annexed  note;  and  I  must  refer  my  readers  to  these 
authors  for  minute  descriptions  of  the  individual  forms  and 
uses  of  each  successive  series  of  plates.* 

*  "  On  the  summit  of  the  vertebral  column  are  placed  successive  series  of 
little  bones,  see  Pi.  50,  Fig.  4.  which  from  their  position  and  uses  may  be 
termed  the  Pelvis  E,  Scapula  H,  Costal  F,  forming  (with  the  pectoral  and 
capital  plates)  a  kind  of  sub-globular  body  (see  PI.  48.  PI.  49.  Fig.  1.  PI.  50, 
Figs.  1,  2,)  having  the  mouth  in  its  centre  and  containing  the  viscera  and 
stomach  of  the  animal,  from  which  the  nourishing  fluids  were  admitted  to 
an  alimentary  cavity  within  the  column,  and  also  carried  to  the  arms  and 
tentaculated  fingers."  From  the  Scapula  (H)  proceeded  the  five  arms,  (PI. 
50,  Fig.  1,  K)  which,  as  they  advanced,  subdivided  into  hands  (M)  and 
fingers  (N)  terminating  in  minute  tentacula  (PI.  50.  Figs.  2,3,)  the  number 
of  which  extended  to  many  thousands.  These  hands  and  fingers  are  repre- 
sented as   closed,  or  nearly  closed,  in  PI.  48.  and  Pi.  49,  Fig.  1.  and  PI.  50 


322  STRUCTURE  OF  CRINOIDEANS. 

From  the  subjoined  analysis  of  the  compotent  portions  of 
the  body  of  the  E.  MoniUformis,  we  see  that  it  may  be 
resolved  into  four  series  of  plates  each  composed  of  five  pieces, 
and  bearing  a  distant  analogy  to  those  parts  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  superior  animals  from  which  they  have  been  denomi- 
nated. A  similar  system  of  plates,  varying  in  number  and 
holding  the  same  place  between  the  column  and  the  arms  of 
the  animal,  may  be  traced  through  each  species  of  the  family 
of  Crinoi'deans.  The  details  of  all  these  specific  variations 
are  beautifully  illustrated  by  Mr.  Miller,  to  whose  excellent 
work  I  must  again  refer  those  who  are  inclined  to  follow 


Figs.  1,  2.  In  Mr.  Miller's  restoration  of  the  Pear  Encrinite  (PI.,  47,  Fig.  1) 
tliey  are  represented  as  expanded  in  search  of  food.  These  tentaculated 
fingers,  when  thus  expanded,  would  form  a  delicate  net,  admirably  adapted 
to  detain  Acalaphans,  and  other  minute  molluscous  animals  that  might  be 
floating  in  the  sea,  and  which  probably  formed  part  of  the  food  of  the  Cri- 
noidea.  In  the  centre  of  these  arms  was  placed  the  mouth  (PI.  47,  Fig.  1.) 
capable  of  elongation  into  a  proboscis.  Pi.  47.  6,  x.  7,  x.  represent  the 
bodies  of  Crinoidea  from  which  the  arms  liave  been  removed. 

In  Pi.  50,  Fig.  1  represents  the  superior  portion  of  the  animal,  with  its 
twenty  fingers  closed  like  the  petals  of  a  closed  lily.  Fig.  2  represents  the 
same  partially  uncovered,  with  the  tentacula  still  folded  up.  Fig.  3  is  a  side 
view  of  one  of  the  fingers  with  its  tentacula.  Fig.  4  represents  the  interior 
of  the  body  which  contained  the  viscera.  Fig.  5  represents  the  exterior  of 
the  same  body,  and  the  surface  by  which  the  base  articulates  with  the  first 
joint  of  the  vertebral  column.  Figs.  6,  7,  8,  9,  represent  a  dissection  of  the 
four  series  of  plates  that  compose  the  body,  forming  successively  the  scapulae, 
upper  and  lower  costal  plates,  and  pelvis  of  the  animal.  Fig.  10  is  the  upper 
extremity  of  the  vertebral  column.  Fig.  11  represents  the  upper  surfaces  of 
the  five  scapulae,  showing  their  articulations  with  tiie  inferior  surfaces  of  the 
first  bones  of  the  arms.  Fig.  12  is  the  inferior  surface  of  the  same  series  of 
scapular  plates,  showing  their  articulations  with  the  superior  surfaces  of  the 
upper  or  second  series  of  costal  plates,  Fig.  13.  Fig.  14  is  the  inferior  surface 
of  Fig.  13,  and  articulates  with  the  first  or  lower  series  of  costal  plates,  Fig. 
15.  Fig.  16  is  the  lower  surface  of  Fig.  15,  and  articulates  with  the  upper 
surface  of  the  bones  of  the  pelvis.  Fig.  17.  Fig.  18  is  the  inferior  surface  of 
the  pelvis,  Fig.  17.  and  articulates  with  the  first  or  uppermost  joint  of  the 
vertebral  column,  Fig.  10. 


EXTENT  OF  CRINOIDEANS.  323 

him,  through  his  highly  philosophical  analysis  of  the  struc- 
ture of  this  curious  family  of  fossil  animals.* 

From  the  details  I  have  thus  selected  from  the  best  autho- 
rities, with  a  view  to  illustrate  the  most  important  parts  that 
enter  into  the  organization  of  the  family  of  Encrinites,  it  is 
obvious  that  similar  investigations  might  be  carried  to  an  al- 
most endless  extent  by  examining  the  peculiarities  of  each 
part  throughout  their  numerous  species.     We  may  judge  of 

*  Our  PI.  47  gives  Mr.  Miller's  restoration  of  two  other  genera,  fig.  1, 
the  Apiocrinites  rotundus,  or  Pear  Encrinite,  with  its  root  or  base  of  attach- 
ment, and  its  arms  expanded.  Fig.  2  is  the  same  with  its  arms  contracted. 
Two  young  individuals  and  the  broken  stumps  of  two  other  small  speci- 
mens, are  seen  fixed  by  their  base  to  the  root  of  the  larger  specimens,  show- 
ing the  manner  in  which  these  roots  are  found  attached  to  the  upper  surface 
of  the  great  oolite  at  Bradford  near  Bath.  When  living,  their  roots  were 
confluent,  and  formed  a  thin  pavement  at  this  place  over  the  bottom  of  the 
sea,  from  which  their  stems  and  branches  rose  into  a  thick  submarine  forest, 
composed  of  these  beautiful  Zoophytes.  The  stems  and  bodies  are  occa- 
sionally found  united,  as  in  their  living  state ;  the  arms  and  fingers  have 
almost  always  been  separated,  but  their  dislocated  fragments  still  remain, 
covering  the  pavement  of  roots  that  overspreads  the  surface  of  the  subjacent 
Oolitic  limestone  rock. 

This  bed  of  beautiful  remains  has  been  buried  by  a  thick  stratum  of  clay. 
Fig.  3  represents  the  exterior  of  the  body,  and  the  upper  columnar  joints  of 
this  animal,  about  two-thirds  of  the  natural  size.  Fig.  4  is  a  longitudinal 
section  of  the  same,  showing  the  cavity  for  the  viscera,  and  also  the  large 
open  spaces  for  the  reception  of  nourishment  between  the  uppermost  en- 
larged joints  of  the  column. 

At  fig.  5  we  have  the  Actinocrinites  30-dactylus,  from  the  corboniferous 
limestone  near  Bristol.  D.  represents  the  auxiliary  side-arms  which  are 
attached  to  the  column  of  this  species,  and  B  its  base  and  fibres  of  attach- 
ment. Fig.  6  represents  its  body,  from  which  the  fingers  are  removed, 
showing  the  pectoral  plates,  Q,  and  capital  plates,  R,  which  form  an  in- 
tegument  over  the  abdominal  cavity  of  the  body,  and  terminate  in  a 
mouth  (x,)  capable  of  being  protruded  into  an  elongated  proboscis  by  the 
contraction  of  its  plated  integument.  Fig.  7  represents  the  body  of  an 
Encrinite  in  the  British  Museum,  figured  by  Parkinson,  vol.  2,  fol.  17, 
fig.  3,  by  the  name  of  Nave  Encrinite.  The  mouth  of  this  specimen 
also  is  seen  at  X,  and  between  the  mouth  and  the  bases  of  the  arms,  the 
series  of  plates  which  form  the  upper  and  exterior  integuments  of  the 
stomach. 


324  PHYSIOLOGICAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

the  degree,  to  which  the  individuals  of  these  species  multi- 
phed  among  the  first  inhabitants  of  the  sea,  from  the  count- 
less myriads  of  their  petrified  remains  which  fill  so  many 
Limestone  beds  of  the  Transition  Formations,  and  compose 
vast  strata  of  Entrochal  marble,  extending  over  large  tracts 
of  country  in  Northern  Europe  and  North  America.  The 
substance  of  this  marble  is  often  almost  as  entirely  made  up 
of  the  petrified  bones  of  Encrinites,  as  a  corn-rick  is  com- 
posed of  straws.  Man  applies  it  to  construct  his  palace  and 
adorn  his  sepulchre,  but  there  are  few  who  know,  and  fewer 
still  who  duly  appreciate  the  surprising  fact,  that  much  of 
this  marble  is  composed  of  the  skeletons  of  milhons  of  orga- 
nized beings,  once  endowed  with  life,  and  susceptible  of  en- 
joyment, which  after  performing  the  part  that  was  for  a 
while  assigned  to  them  in  living  nature,  have  contributed 
their  remains  towards  the  composition  of  the  mountain 
masses  of  the  earth.* 

Of  more  than  thirty  species  of  Crinoideans  that  prevailed 
to  such  enormous  extent  in  the  Transition  period,  nearly  all 
became  extinct  before  the  deposition  of  the  Lias,  and  only 
one  presents  the  angular  column  of  the  Pentacrinite ;  with 
this  one  exception,  pentangular  columns  first  began  to  abound 
among  the  Crinoideans  at  the  commencement  of  the  Lias, 
and  have  from  thence  extended  onwards  into  our  present 
seas.  Their  several  species  and  even  genera  are  also  limit- 
ed in  their  extent ;  e.  g.  the  great  Lily  Encrinite  (E.  monili- 
formis) is  peculiar  to  the  Muschelkalk,'and  the  Pear  Encri- 
nite to  the  middle  region  of  the  Oolitic  formation. 

The  Physiological  history  of  the  family  of  Encrinites  is 
very  important ;  their  species  were  numerous  among  the 
most  ancient  orders  of  created  beings,  and  in  this  early  state 
their  construction  exhibits  at  least  an  equal  if  not  a  higher 

*  Fragments  of  Encrinites  are  also  dispersed  irregularly  throughout  all 
the  depositions  of  this  period,  intermixed  with  the  remains  of  other  contem- 
porary marine  animals. 


PENTACRTNITES.  325 

degree  of  perfection  than  is  retained  in  the  existing  Penta- 
orinites ;  and  although  the  place,  which,  as  Zoophytes,  they 
occupied  in  the  animal  kingdom,  M'as  low,  yet  they  were 
constructed  with  a  perfect  adaptation  to  that  low  estate,  and 
in  this  primeval  perfection  they  afford  another  example  at 
variance  with  the  doctrine  of  the  progression  of  animal  life 
from  simple  rudiments  through  a  series  of  gradually  im- 
proving and  more  perfect  forms,  to  its  fullest  development 
in  existing  species.  Thus,  a  comparison  of  one  of  the  early 
forms  of  the  Genus  Pentacrinite,  viz.  the  Briarean  Pentacri- 
nite  of  the  Lias,  (PI.  51  and  PI.  52,  Fig.  2.  and  PI.  53)  with 
the  fossil  species  of  more  recent  formations,  and  with  the 
existing  Pentacrinus  Caput  Medusas  from  the  Caribbean 
Sea,  PL  52,  Fig.  1,  shows  in  the  organization  of  this  very 
ancient  species  an  equal  degree  of  perfection,  and  a  more 
elaborate  combination  of  analogous  organs,  than  occur  in 
any  other  fossil  species  of  more  recent  date,  or  in  its  living 
representative. 

Pentacrinites. 

The  history  of  these  fossil  bodies,  that  abound  in  the  lower 
strata  of  the  Oolite  formation,  and  especially  in  the  Lias, 
has  been  much  illustrated  by  the  discovery  of  two  living 
forms  of  the  same  Genus,  viz.  the  Pentacrinus  Caput 
Medusas,*  (PI.  52,  Fig.  1,)  and  Pentacrinus  Europasus,  PI. 
52,  Figs.  2,  2'.  Of  the  first  of  these  a  few  specimens  only 
have  been  brought  up  from  the  bottom  of  deep  seas  in  the 
West  Indies ;  having  their  lower  extremities  broken,  as  if 
torn  from  a  firm  attachment  to  the  bottom.  The  Penta- 
crinus Europasusf  (see  PI.  52,  Figs.  2.  2',)  is  found  attached 

*  See  Miller's  Crinoidea,  p.  45. 

t  See  Memoir  on  Pentacrinus  Europaeus  by  T,  V.  Thompson,  Esq.  Cork, 
1827.     He  has  subsequently  ascertained  that  this  animal  is  the  young  of  the 
Comatiila. 
VOL.  I.— 28 


326  BRIAREAN  PENTACRINITE. 

to  various  kinds  of  Sertularia  and  Flustracea  in  the  Cove 
of  Cork,  and  other  parts  of  the  coast  of  Ireland. 

It  appears  that  Pentacrinites  are  alhed  to  the  existing 
family  of  star-fishes,  and  approach  most  nearly  to  the  Coma- 
tula;  (See  Miller's  Crinoidea,  PI.  1,  and  p.  127:)  the  bony 
skeleton  constitutes  by  far  the  largest  portion  of  these  ani- 
mals. In  the  living  species  this  bony  framework  is  invested 
with  a  gelatinous  membrane,  accompanied  by  a  muscular 
system,  regulating  the  movements  of  every  bone.  Although^ 
in  the  fossil  species,  these  softer  parts  have  perished,  yet  an 
apparatus  for  muscular  attachment  exists  on  each  individual 
bone.* 

The  calcareous  joints  which  compose  the  fingers  of  the 
P.  Europaeus,  together  with  their  tentacula,  are  capable  of 
contraction  and  expansion  in  every  direction ;  at  one  time 
spreading  outwards,  like  the  Petals  of  an  open  flower  (PI. 
52,  Fig.  2,)  and  at  another  rolled  inwards  over  the  mouth, 
like  an  unexpanded  bud ;  the  office  of  these  organs  is  to 
seize  and  convey  to  the  mouth  its  destined  food.  Thus  the 
habits  of  living  animals  illustrate  the  movements  and  man- 
ner of  life  of  the  numerous  extinct  fossil  members  of  this 
great  family,  and  afford  an  example  of  the  vahdity  of  the 
mode  of  argument,  to  which  we  are  obliged  to  have  recourse 
in  the  consideration  of  extinct  species  of  organic  remains. 
In  this  process  we  argue  backwards,  and  from  the  mechan- 
ical arrangements  that  pervade  the  solid  portions  of  fossil 
skeletons,  infer  the  nature  and  functions  of  the  muscles  by 
which  motion  was  imparted  to  each  bone. 

I  shall  select  from  the  many  fossil  species  of  the  Genus 
Pentacrinite,  that,  which  from  the  extraordinary  number  of 
auxiliary  side-arms,  placed  along  its  column,  has  been  called 
the  Briarean  Pentacrinite,  and  of  which  our  figures  (PI.  51. 

*  See  the  tubercles  and  corrugations  on  the  surfaces  of  the  bones  engraved 
at  PI.  52,  Figs.  7,  9,  11,  13,  14,  15,  IG,  17. 


VERTEBRAL    COLUMN.  327 

Figs.  1,  2 ;  PI.  52.  Fig.  3.;  and  PI.  53.)  will  give  a  more 
accurate  idea  than  can  be  conveyed  by  verbal  descriptions.* 


Vertebral  Column. 

The  upper  part  of  the  vertebral  column  of  Pentacrinites 
is  constructed  on  principles  analogous  to  those  already  de- 
scribed in  the  upper  part  of  the  column,  of  the  Encrinite.f 

All  the  joints  of  the  column,  when  seen  transversely, 
present  various  modifications  of  pentagonal  star-like  forms ; 
hence  their  name  of  Asteriae,  or  star-stones. 

These  transverse  surfaces  are  variously  covered  with  a 

*  PI.  51  represents  a  single  specimen  of  Briarean  Pentacrinitc,  wiiich 
stands  in  iiigh  relief  upon  tiie  surface  of  a  slab  of  Lias,  from  Lyme  Regis, 
almost  entirely  made  up  of  a  mass  of  other  individuals  of  the  same  species. 
The  arms  and  fingers  are  considerably  expanded  towards  the  position  they 
would  assume  in  searching  for  food.  The  side-arms  remain  attached  to  the 
upper  portion  only  of  the  vertebral  column. 

At  PI.  53.  Fig.  1  and  2  represent  two  other  specimens  of  the  same  spe- 
cies, rising  in  beautiful  relief  from  a  slab,  which  is  composed  of  a  congeries 
of  fragments  of  similar  individuals.  The  columns  of  these  specimens,  Fig. 
2,  a,  show  the  side-arms  rising  in  their  natural  position  from  the  grooves 
between  the  angular  projections  of  the  Pentagonal  stem.     At  PI.  53,  Fig.  1. 

¥.  F.  are  seen  the  costal  plates  surrounding  the  cavity  of  the  body ;  at  H^ 
the  Scapulse,  with  the  arms  and  fingers  proceeding  from  them  to  the  extremi- 
ties of  the  tenlacula. 

At  PI.  53.  Fig.  3.  exhibits  the  side-arms  rising  from  the  lower  part  of  a 
vertebral  column,  and  entirely  covering  it.  Fig.  4.  is  another  column,  on 
which,  the  side-arms  being  removed,  we  see  the  grooves  wherein  they  arti- 
culated with  the  alternate  vertebra).  Fig.  5.  exhibits  a  portion  of  another 
column  slightly  contorted. 

•j-  The  columnar  joints  of  the  Briarean  Pentacrinite  are  disposed  in  pieces 
alternately  thicker  and  thinner,  with  a  third  and  still  thinner  joint  inter- 
posed between  every  one  of  thera.  PI.  53.  Figs.  8,  and  8»,  a.  b.  c.  The 
edges  of  this  thinnest  joint  appear  externally  only  at  the  angles  of  the  column; 
internally  they  enlarge  themselves  into  a  kind  of  intervertebral  collar,  c. 
c.  c. 

A  similar  alternation  in  joints  of  the  Pentacrinites  sub-angularis  is  repre- 
sented in  PI,  52.  Figs.  4  and  5. 


328  ROOT  OF  PENTACRINITE. 

succession  of  teeth,  set  at  minute  intervals  from  one  another^ 
and  locking  into  the  interstices  between  corresponding  teeth 
on  the  surface  of  the  next  vertebrae,  they  are  so  disposed  as 
to  admit  of  flexure  in  all  directions,  without  risk  of  disloca- 
tion.* 

As  the  base  or  root  of  Pentacrinites  was  usually  fixed  to 
the  bottom  of  the  sea,  or  to  some  extraneous  floating  body, 
the  flexibility  of  the  jointed  column,  which  forms  the  stem, 
was  subservient  to  the  double  office,  first,  of  varying,  in 
every  direction,  the  position  of  the  body  and  arms  in  search 
of  food,  and  secondly,  of  yielding,  with  facility,  to  the  course 
of  the  current,  or  fury  of  the  storm,  swinging,  like  a  vessel 
held  by  her  cable,  with  equal  ease  in  all  directions  around 
her  moorings. 

The  Root  of  the  Briarean  Pentacrinite  was  probably 
slight,  and  capable  of  being  withdrawn  from  its  attach- 
ment.!    The  absence  of  any   large  solid  Secretions,  like 

*  The  ranges  of  tubercles  upon  the  exterior  surface  of  each  joint  in  the 
fragments  of  columns,  PI.  52.  Figs.  7.  9.  11.  mark  the  origin  and  insertion 
of  muscular  fibres,  by  which  the  movement  of  every  joint  was  regu- 
lated. At  every  articulation  of  the  vertebrae,  we  see  also  the  mode  in  which 
the  crenated  edges  lock  into  one  another,  combining  strength  with  flexi- 
bility. In  PI.  52,  Figs.  11.  and  13,  the  Vertebrse  (d.)  present  five  lateral 
surfaces  of  articulation,  whereby  the  sidc-;\rms  were  attached  to  the  vertebral 
column  at  distant  intervals,  as  in  the  Pentacrinus  Caput  Medusae,  PI.  52, 
Fig.  1. 

The  double  series  of  crenated  surfaces,  which  pass  from  the  centre  to  the 
points  of  each  of  the  five  radii  of  these  star-shaped  vertebrae,  PI.  62.  Fig.  6. 
to  17.;  and  PI.  53.  Figs.  9.  to  13,  present  a  beautiful  variety  of  arrangements, 
not  only  in  each  species,  but  in  different  parts  of  the  column  of  the  same 
species,  according  to  the  degree  of  flexion  which  each  individual  part  re- 
quired. 

t  Mr.  Miller  describes  a  recent  specimen  of  Pentacrinus  Caput  Medu- 
sa;, as  having  tlie  joints  next  to  the  base  partially  consolidated,  and  ad- 
mitting but  little  motion,  where  little  is  required;  but  higher  up,  the 
ioints  bcuome  thinner,  and  are  disposed  alternately,  a  smaller  and  thinner 
joint  succeeding  a  larger  and  tliicker,  to  allow  a  greater  freedom  of  mo- 
tion, till  near  the  apex  this  change  is  so  conspicuous,  that  the  small  ones 
resemble    thin    leather-likc    interpositions.     He   also    observed    traces    of 


ATTACHMENT  TO  EXTRANEOUS  BODIES.  329 

those  of  the  Pear  Encrinite,  by  which  this  Pentacrinite  could 
have  been  fixed  permanently  to  the  bottom,  and  the  farther 
fact  of  its  being  frequently  found  in  contact  with  masses  of 
drifted  wood  converted  into  jet  (PI.  52,  Fig.  3.,)  leads  us  to 
infer  that  the  Briarean  Pentacrinite  was  a  locomotive  ani- 
mal, having  the  power  of  attaching  itself  temporarily  either 
to  extraneous  floating  bodies,  or  to  rocks  at  the  bottom  of 
the  sea,  either  by  its  side-arms,  or  by  a  moveable  articulated 
small  root.*' 

the  action  of  contractile  muscular  fibres  on  the  internal  surfaces  of  each  ver- 
tebra. 

*  The  specimens  of  Briarean  Pentacrinite  at  PI.  52,  Fig,  3.  from  the 
Lias  at  Lyme  Regis,  adheres  laterally  to  a  portion  of  imperfect  jet,  which 
forms  part  of  a  thin  bed  of  Lignite,  in  the  Lias  marl,  between  Lyme  and 
Charmouth. 

Tliroughout  nearly  its  whole  extent,  IVIiss  Anning  has  constantly  observed 
in  this  Lignite  tlie  following  curious  appearances:  The  lower  surface  only 
is  covered  by  a  stratum,  entirely  composed  of  Pentacrinites,  and  varying 
from  one  to  three  inches  in  tliiclincss ;  they  lie  nearly  in  a  horizontal  posi- 
tion,  with  the  foot-staiks  uppermost,  next  to  the  lignite.  The  greater  num- 
ber of  these  Pentacrinites  are  preserved  in  such  high  perfection,  that  they 
must  have  been  buried  in  the  clay  that  now  invests  them  before  decomposi- 
tion of  their  bodies  had  taken  place.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  large  slabs 
several  feet  long,  whose  lower  surface  only  presents  the  arms  and  fingers  of 
these  fossil  animals,  expanded  like  plants  in  a  Hortus  Siccus;  whilst  the 
vppcr  surface  exhibits  only  a  congeries  of  stems  in  contact  with  the  under 
surface  of  the  lignite.  The  greater  number  of  these  stems  are  usually  pa- 
rallel to  one  another,  as  if  drifted  in  the  same  direction  by  the  current  in 
wiiich  they  last  floated. 

The  mode  in  which  these  animal  remains  are  thus  collected  immediately 
beneath  the  Lignite,  and  never  on  its  upper  surface,  seems  to  show  that  the 
creatures  had  attached  themselves,  in  large  groups,  (like  modern  barnacles,) 
to  the  masses  of  floating  wood,  which,  together  with  them,  were  suddenly 
buried  in  the  mud,  wliose  accumulation  gave  origin  to  the  marl,  wherein 
this  curious  compound  stratum  of  animal  and  vegetable  remains  is  imbedded. 
Fragments  of  petrified  wood  occur  also  in  the  Lias,  having  large  groups  of 
Mytili,  iti  the  position  that  is  usually  assumed  by  recent  mytili,  attached  to 
floating  wood, 

28* 


MECHANISM  OF  SIDE-AK.MS* 


Side-Ar?ns. 

The  Side-Arms  become  gradually  smaller  towards  the 
upper  extremity  of  the  column.  In  the  P.  Briareus  (PI.  52, 
Fig.  3.  and  PL  53,  Fig.  1.  and  3.)  these  amount  to  nearly  a 
Thousand  in  number.*  The  numerous  side-arms  of  the 
Briarean  Pentacrinite,  when  expanded,  would  act  as  aux- 
iliary nets  to  retain  the  prey  of  the  animal,  and  also  serve 
as  hold-fasts  to  assist  it  in  adhering  to  the  bottom,  or  to  ex- 
traneous bodies.  In  agitated  water  they  would  close  and 
fold  themselves  along  the  column,  in  a  position  which  would 
expose  the  least  possible  surface  to  the  element,  and,  together 
with  the  column  and  arms,  would  yield  to  the  direction  of 
the  current. 

*  If  we  suppose  the  lower  portion  of  tlie  specinien,  PI.  53,  Fig.  2.  a. 
to  be  united  to  the  upper  portion  of  the  fractured  stem,  Fig.  3,  we  shall 
form  a  correct  idea  of  the  manner  in  which  the  column  of  this  animal  was 
surrounded  with  this  thousand  side-arms,  each  having  from  fifty  to  a  hun- 
dred joints,  PI.  53,  Fig-.  14.  The  number  of  joints  in  the  side-arms 
gradually  diminishes  towards  the  top  of  the  vertebral  column  ;  but  as  one 
of  the  lowest  and  largest  (PL  53,  Fig.  14.)  contains  more  than  a  hundred, 
we  shall  be  much  below  the  reality  in  reckoning  fifty  as  their  average 
number. 

Each  of  these  joints  articulates  with  the  adjacent  joint,  by  processes 
rcaembling  a  mortice  and  tenon  ;  and  the  form  both  of  the  articulating  sur- 
faces and  of  the  bone  itself,  varies  so  as  to  give  more  universal  motion 
as  they  advance  towards  the  small  extremity  of  the  arm.  See  PI.  53,  Fig. 
14.  a.  b. 

In  all  this  delicate  mechanism  which  pervades  ever}'  individual  side- 
arm,  we  see  provision  for  the  double  purpose  of  attaching  itself  to  extrane- 
ous bodies,  and  apprehending  its  prey.  Five  of  these  arms  are  set  oif 
from  each  of  the  largest  joints  of  the  vertebral  column.  At  PI.  53.  Fig. 
7.  a.  we  see  the  bases,  or  first  joints  of  these  side-arms  articulating  with 
the  larger  vertebrce,  and  inclined  alternately  to  the  right  and  left,  for  the 
purpose  of  occupying  their  position  most  advantageously  for  motion,  witJ>- 
out  interfering  with  each  other,  or  with  the  flexure  of  the  vertebral  column. 

In  the  recent  Pentacrinus  Caput  Medusce  (PI.  52,  Fig,  1.)  the  side-arnii* 
(D.)  are  dispersed  at  distant  intervals  along  the  columa. 


STOMACH,  BODY,  ARMS,  AND  FINGERS  OF  PENTACEINITE.  331 

Stomach. 

The  abdominal  cavity  or  stomach,  of  the  Pentacrinite, 
(PI.  51,  Fig.  2.,)  is  rarely  preserved  in  a  fossil  state;  it 
formed  a  funnel-shaped  pouch,  of  considerable  size,  com- 
posed of  a  contractile  membrane,  covered  externally  with 
many  hundred  minute  calcareous  angular  plates.  At  the 
apex  of  this  funnel  was  a  small  aperture,  forming  the  mouth, 
susceptible  of  elongation  into  a  proboscis  for  taking  in  food.* 
The  place  of  this  organ  is  in  the  centre  of  the  body,  sur- 
rounded by  the  arms. 


Body,  Arms,  and  Fingers. 

The  body  of  the  Pentacrinite,  between  the  summit  of  the 
column  and  the  base  of  the  arms,  is  small,  and  composed  of 
the  pelvis,  and  the  costal,  and  scapular  plates,  (See  PI.  51. 
PI.  52.  Fig.  1.  3.  and  PI.  53.  Fig.  2.  6.  E.  F.  H.)  The  arms 
and  fingers  arc  long  and  spreading,  and  have  numerous 
joints,  or  tentacula ;  each  joint  is  armed  at  its  margin  with 
a  small  tubercle  or  hook,  (PI.  53.  Fig.  17.,)  the  form  of 
which  varies  in  every  joint,  to  act  as  an  organ  of  prehen- 
sion ;  these  arms  and  fingers,  when  expanded,  must  have 
formed  a  net  of  greater  capacity  than  that  of  the  Encri- 
nites.f 

We  have  seen  that  Parkinson  calculates  the  number  of 
bones  in  the  Lily  Encrinite  to  exceed  twenty-six  thousand. 

•  This  unique  specimen  forms  part  of  the  splendid  collection  of  James 
Johnson,  Esq.  of  Bristol. 

f  The  place  of  the  Pentacrinites  in  the  flimily  Echinoderms,  would  lead 
us  to  expect  to  find  minute  pores  on  the  internal  surface  of  the  fing-ers,  analo- 
gous to  those  of  the  more  obvious  ambulacra  of  Echini;  they  were  probably 
observed  by  Guettard,  wlio  speaks  of  orifices  at  the  terminating  points  of 
the  fingers  and  tentacula. 

Lamarck  also,  describing  his  generic  character  of  Encrinus,  says:  "The 
branches  of  the  Umbel  are  furnished  with  Polypes,  or  suckers,  disposed  in 
rows." 


332  CONCLUSION. 

The  number  of  bones  in  the  fingers  and  tentacula  of  the 
Briarean  Pentacrinite  amounts  at  least  to  a  hundred  thou- 
sand ;  if  to  these  we  add  fifty  thousand  more  for  the  ossicula 
of  the  side-arms,  which  is  much  too  httle,  the  total  number 
of  bones  will  exceed  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand.  As  each 
bone  was  furnished  with  at  least  two  fasciculi  of  fibres,  one 
for  contraction,  the  other  for  expansion,  we  have  a  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  bones,  and  three  hundred  thousand  fasci- 
culi of  fibres  equivalent  to  muscles,  in  the  body  of  a  single 
Pentacrinite — an  amount  of  muscular  apparatus  concerned 
in  regulating  the  ossicula  of  the  skeleton,  infinitely  exceeding 
any  that  has  been  yet  observed  throughout  the  entire  animal 
creation.* 

When  we  consider  the  profusion  of  care,  and  exquisite 
contrivance,  that  pervades  the  frame  of  every  individual  in 
this  species  of  Pentacrinite,  forming  but  one  of  many  mem- 
bei's,  of  the  almost  extinct  family  of  Crino'ideans — and  when 
we  add  to  this  the  amount  of  analogous  mechanisms  that  cha- 
racterize the  other  genera  and  species  of  this  curious  fami- 
ly,— we  are  almost  lost  in  astonishment,  at  the  microscopic 
attention  that  has  been  paid  to  the  welfare  of  creatures,  hold- 
ing so  low  a  place  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  ancient 
deep  ;f  and  we  feel  a  no  less  irresistible  conviction  of  the 
univ^ersal  presence  and  eternal  agency  of  Creative  care,  in 
the  lower  regions  of  organic  life,  than  is  forced  upon  us  by 
the  contemplation  of  those  highest  combinations  of  animal 
mechanism,  which  occur  in  that  paragon  of  animal  organi- 
zation, the  corporeal  frame  of  Man. 

*  Tiedemann,  in  a  monograph  on  Holotlmria,  Echini,  and  Asteriee,  states 
that  the  common  Star-fish  lias  more  than  three  thousand  llltle  bones. 

f  A  frequent  repetition  of  the  same  i)arts  is  proof  of  the  low  place 
and  comparative  imperfection  of  tlie  animal  in  which  it  occurs.  The 
number  of  bones  in  the  human  body  is  but  two  hundred  and  forty-one,  and 
that  of  the  muscles  two  hundred  and  tlilrty-two  pairs.  South's  Dissector's 
Manual. 


FOSSIL  REMAINS  OF  POLYPES.  333 


SECTION  II. 


FOSSIL  REMAINS  OF  POLYPES. 


It  was  stated  in  our  Chapter  on  Strata  of  the  Transition 
Series,  that  some  of  their  most  abundant  animal  remains 
are  fossil  Corals  or  Polyparies.  These  were  derived  from 
an  order  of  animals  long  considered  to  be  allied  to  marine 
plants,  and  designated  by  the  name  of  Zoophytes ;  they  are 
usually  fixed,  like  plants,  to  all  parts  of  the  bottom  of  the 
sea  in  warm  climates  which  are  not  too  deep  to  be  below 
the  influence  of  solar  heat  and  hght,  and  in  many  species, 
send  forth  branches,  assuming  in  some  degree  the  form  and 
aspect  of  vegetables.  These  coralline  bodies  are  the  pro- 
duction of  Polypes,  nearly  aUied  to  the  common  Actinia,  or 
Sea  Anemone  of  our  own  shores.  See  PI.  54.  Fig.  4.  Some 
of  them,  e.  g.  the  CaryophyUia,  see  PI.  54.  Figs.  9,  10.  are 
solitary,  each  forming  its  own  independent  stem  and  sup- 
port; others  are  gregarious,  or  confluent;  living  together 
on  the  same  common  base  or  Polypary,  which  is  covered 
by  a  thin  gelatinous  substance,  on  the  surface  of  which  are 
scattered  tcntacula,  corresponding  with  the  stars  on  the 
surface  of  the  coral,  (see  PL  54.  Fig.  5.) 

Le  Sueur,  who  observed  them  in  the  West  Indies, 
describes  these  Polypes,  when  expanded  in  calm  weather  at 
the  bottom  of  the  sea,  as  covering  their  stony  receptacles 
with  a  continuous  sheet  of  most  brilliant  colours. 

The  gelatinous  bodies  of  these  Polypes  are  furnished  with 
the  power  of  secreting  carbonate  of  Lime,  with  which  they 
form  a  basis  of  attachment,  and  cell  of  retreat.  These  cal- 
careous cells  not  only  endure  beyond  the  life  of  the  Polypes 
that  secreted  them,  but  approach  so  nearly  to  Limestone 
in  their   chemical   composition,  that   at  the  death  of  the 


334  CORAL  REEFS. 

Polype  they  remain  permanently  attached  to  the  bottom 
Thus  one  generation  establishes  the  basis  whereon  the  next 
fixes  its  habitation,  which  is  destined  to  form  the  foundation 
of  a  farther  and  continual  succession  of  similar  constructions, 
until  the  mass,  being  at  length  raised  to  the  surface  of  the 
sea,  a  limit  is  thereby  put  to  its  farther  accumulation. 
■  The  tendency  of  Polypes  to  multiply  in  the  waters  of 
warm  climates  is  so  great,  that  the  bottom  of  our  tropical 
seas  swarms  with  countless  myriads  of  these  little  creatures, 
ever  actively  engaged  in  constructing  their  small  but 
enduring  habitations.  Almost  every  submarine  rock,  and 
submarine  volcanic  cone,  and  ridge,  within  these  latitudes, 
has  become  the  nucleus  and  foundation  of  a  colony  of 
Polypes,  chiefly  belonging  to  the  genera  Madrepora,  Astrea. 
Caryophyllia,  meandrina,  and  Millepora.  The  calcareous 
secretion  of  these  Polypes  are  accumulated  into  enormous 
banks  or  I'eefs  of  coral,  sometimes  extending  to  a  length  of 
many  hundred  miles ;  these  continually  rising  to  the  surface 
in  spots  where  they  were  unknown  before,  endanger  the 
navigation  of  many  parts  of  the  tropical  seas.* 

If  we  look  to  the  office  these  Polypes  perform  in  the 
present  economy  of  nature,  we  find  them  acting  as  scaven- 
gers of  the  lowest  class,  perpetually  employed  in  cleansing 
the  waters  of  the  sea  from  the  impurities  which  escape 
even  the  smaller  Crustacea ;  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
Insect  Tribes,  in  their  various  stages,  are  destined  to  find 
their  food  by  devouring  impurities  caused  by  dead  animal 
and  vegetable  matter  upon  the  land.f     The  same   system 


*  Interesting  accounts  of  tlie  extent  and  mode  of  formation  of  these  Coral 
Reefs  may  be  found  in  the  voyages  of  Peron,  Flinders,  Kotzcbue.  and 
Becchy  ;  and  an  admirable  application  of  the  facts  connected  with  modern 
Corals  to  the  illustration  of  geological  phenomena  has  been  made  by  Dr. 
Kidd  in  his  Geological  Essay,  and  by  Mr.  Lyell  in  his  Principles  of  Geo- 
logy, 3d  edit.  vol.  iii, 

t  Mr.  De  la  Bcchc  observed  that  the  Polypes  of  the  Caryophyllia 
Smithii    CPl-   54,   Figs.    9,    10,    11,)   devoured    portions   of   the    flesh   of 


EFFECT  OF  POLYPES  ON  MINERAL  STRATA.        335  , 

appears  to  have  prevailed  from  the  first  commencement  of 
Hfe  in  the  most  ancient  seas,  throughout  that  long  series  of 
ages  w^hose  duration  is  attested  by  the  varied  succession  of 
animal  and  vegetable  exuviae,  which  are  buried  in  the  strata 
of  the  earth.  In  all  these  strata  the  calcareous  habitations 
of  such  minute  and  apparently  unimportant  creatures  as 
Polypes,  have  formed  large  and  permanent  additions  to  the 
solid  materials  of  the  globe,  and  afford  a  striking  example 
of  the  influence  of  animal  life  upon  the  mineral  condition  of 
the  earth.* 

If  there  be  one  thing  more  surprising  than  another  in  the 
investigation  of  natural  phenomena,  it  is  perhaps  the  infinite 
extent  and  vast  importance  of  things  apparently  little  and 
insignificant.  When  v^^e  descry  an  insect,  smaller  than  a 
mite,  moving  with  agility  across  the  paper  on  which  we 
write,  we  feel  as  incapable  of  forming  any  distinct  concep- 
tion of  the  minutiae  of  the  muscular  fibres,  which  effect  these 
movements,  and  of  the  still  smaller  vessels  by  which  they 
are  nourished,  as  we  are  of  fully  apprehending  the  magni- 

ftshes,  and  also  small  Crustacea,  witli  which  he  fed  several  individuals  at 
Torquay,  seizing  them  with  their  tentacula,  and  digesting  them  within  the 
central  sac  which  forms  their  stomach. 

*  Among  the  Corals  of  the  Transition  Series  arc  many  existing  genera, 
and  Mr.  De  la  Beche  has  justly  remarked  (Manual  of  Geology,  p.  454)  that* 
wherever  there  is  an  accumulation  of  Polypifcrs  such  as  would  justify  the 
appellation  of  coral  banks  or  reefs,  the  genera  Astrea  and  Caryophyllia  are 
present ;  genera  which  arc  among  architects  of  coral  reefs  in  the  present 
seas. 

A  large  part  of  the  Limestone  called  Coral  Rng,  which  forms  the  elevated 
plains  of  Bullington  and  Cunmer,  and  the  hills  of  Wytham,  on  three  sides  of 
the  valley  of  Oxford,  is  filled  with  continuous  beds  and  ledges  of  petrified 
corals  of  many  species,  still  retaining  tlie  position  in  which  they  grow  at  the 
bottom  of  an  ancient  sea;  as  <;oral  banks,  are  now  forming  in  the  intertropi- 
cal regions  of  the  present  ocean. 

The  same  fossil  coralline  strata  extend  through  the  calcareous  hills  of  the 
N.  W.  of  Berkshire,  and  N.  of  Wilts  ;  and  again  recur  in  equal  or  still  greater 
force  in  Yorkshire,  in  the  lofty  summits  on  the  W.  and  S.  W.  of  Scar- 
borough. 


336  IMPORTANCE  OF  THINGS  MINUTE. 

tude  of  the  universe.  We  are  more  perplexed  in  attempting 
to  comprehend  ^he  organization  of  the  minutest  Infusoria,* 

*  Ehrenberg  has  ascertained  tliatthe  Infusoria,  which  have  hcrtofore  been 
considered  as  scarcely  organized,  have  an  internal  structure  resembling  that 
of  the  higher  animals.  He  has  discovered  in  them  muscles,  intestines,  teeth, 
different  kinds  of  glands,  eyes,  nerves,  and  male  and  female  organs  of  repro- 
duction. He  finds  that  some  are  born  alive,  others  produced  by  eggs,  and 
some  multiplied  by  spontaneous  divisions  of  their  bodies  into  two  or  more 
distinct  animals.  Their  powers  of  reproduction  are  so  great,  that  from  one 
individual  (Hydatina  senta)  a  million  were  produced  in  ten  days;  on  the 
eleventh  day  four  millions,  and  on  the  twelfth  sixteen  millions.  The  most 
astonishing  result  of  his  observations  is,  that  the  size  of  the  smallest  colour- 
ed spots  on  the  body  of  Monas  Termo,  (the  diameter  of  which  is  only  g- J^  ,5- 
of  a  line)  is 4.,_  of  a  line,  and  that  the  thickness  of  the  skin  of  the  sto- 

4.8T5T50  !!■        ,■  mi  • 

mach  may  be  calculated  at  from  ___i^^^  to  __ ,,  J -^^-^^  of  a  line.  This 
skin  must  also  have  vessels  of  a  still  smaller  size,  the  dimensions  of  which 
are  too  minute  to  be  ascertained.  Abhandlungen  der  Academie  der  Wissen- 
schaften  zu  Berlin,  1831. 

Ehrenberg  has  described  and  figured  more  than  500  species  of  these 
Animalcules;  many  of  them  are  limited  to  a  certain  number  of  vegetable 
infusions  ;  a  few  are  found  in  almost  every  infusion.  Many  vegetables  pro- 
duce several  species,  some  of  which  are  propagated  more  readily  than  others 
in  each  particular  infusion.  The  familiar  case  of  the  rapid  appearance  and 
propagation  of  animalcules  in  pepper  water  will  suffice  to  illustrate  the 
rest. 

In  the  London  and  Edin.  Phil.  Mag.  Aug.  1,  1836,  p.  158,  there  is  an 
extract  of  a  letter  sent  by  M.  Alexander  Brongniart  from  Berlin  to  the 
Royal  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Paris,  announcing  that  Ehrenberg  has 
also  discovered  the  silicified  remains  of  Infusoria  in  the  stone  called  Tri- 
poli (Polierschiefer  of  Werner,)  a  substance  which  has  been  supposed  to 
be  formed  from  sediments  of  fine  volcanic  ashes  in  quiet  waters.  These 
petrified  Infusoria  from  a  large  proportion  of  the  substance  of  this  kind 
of  stone  from  four  different  localities,  on  which  Ehrenberg  has  made  his 
observations ;  they  were  probably  living  in  the  waters,  at  the  time  when 
they  became  charged  with  the  volcanic  dust,  in  which  the  Tripoli  ori- 
ginated. It  is  added  in  this  notice  that  the  slimy  Iron  ore  of  certain 
marshes  is  loaded  witii  Infusoria,  of  the  genus  Gallionella. — L'lnstitut, 
No.  166. 

These  most  curious  observations  throw  important  light  on  the  obscure 
and  long-disputed  question  of  equivocal  generation;  the  well-known  fact 
that  animalcules  of  definite  cliaracters  appear  in  infusions  of  vegetable 
and  animal  matter,  even  when  prepared    with   distilled  water,  receives  a 


CONCLUSION.  337 

than  that  of  a  whafe ;  and  one  of  the  last  conclusions  at 
which  we  arrive,  is  a  conviction  that  the  greatest  and  most 

probable  explanalion,  and  the  case  of  Infusoria  no  longer  appears  to  dif- 
fer from  that  of  other  animals  as  to  the  principle  on  which  their  propaga- 
tion is  conducted.  Tiic  chief  peculiarity  seems  to  consist  in  this,  that 
their  increase  takes  place  both  by  the  oviparous  and  viviparous  manner 
of  descent  from  parent  animals,  and  also  by  division  of  the  bodies  of  indi- 
viduals. 

Tlie  great  difficulty  is,  to  explain  the  manner  in  which  the  eggs  or  bodies 
of  preceding  individuals  can  find  access  to  each  particular  infusion.  This 
explanation  is  facilitated  by  the  analogous  cases  of  various  fungi  which  start 
into  life,  without  any  apparent  cause,  wherever  decaying  vegetable  matter  is 
exposed  to  certain  conditions  of  temperature,  humidity,  and  medium.  Fries 
explains  the  sudden  production  of  these  plants,  by  supposing  the  light  and 
almost  invisible  sporules  of  preceding  plants,  of  which  he  has  counted  above 
10,000,000  in  a  single  individual,  to  be  continually  floating  in  the  air,  and 
falling  every  where.  The  greater  part  of  these  never  germinate,  from  not 
falling  on  a  proper  matrix;  those  which  find  such  matrix  start  rapidly  into 
Jife,  and  begin  to  propagate. 

A  similar  explanalion  seems  applicable  to  the  case  of  Infusoria  ;  tlie  ex- 
treme minuteness  of  the  eggs  and  bodies  of  these  animalcules  probably  allows 
them  to  float  in  the  air,  like  the  invisible  sporules  of  fungi ;  they  may  be 
raised  from  the  surface  of  fluids  by  various  causes  of  attraction,  perhaps 
«ver  by  ovaporation.  From  every  pond  or  ditch  that  dries  up  in  summer, 
these  desiccated  eggs  and  bodies  may  be  raised  by  every  gust  of  wind,  and 
dissipated  through  the  atmosphere  like  smoke,  ready  to  start  into  life  when 
ever  they  fall  into  any  medium  admitting  of  their  suscitation  ;  Ehrenherg- 
has  found  them  in  fog,  in  rain,  and  snow. 

If  the  great  aerial  ocean  which  surrounds  the  earth  be  thus  charged  witli 
the  rudiments  of  life,  floating  continually  amidst  the  atoms  of  dust  we  see 
twinkling  in  a  sunbeam,  and  ever  ready  to  return  to  life  as  soon  as  they 
find  a  matrix  adapted  to  their  development,  we  have  in  these  conditions 
of  the  very  air  we  breathe  a  system  of  provisions  for  the  almost  infinite 
dissemination  of  life  throughout  the  fluids  of  the  present  Earth ;  and 
these  provisions  are  in  harmony  with  the  crowded  condition  of  the  waters 
of  the  ancient  world,  which  is  manifested  by  the  multitudes  of  fossil  mi- 
croscopic remains,  to  which  we  have  before  alluded.  (See  Sect.  viii.  page 
->90.) 

Mr.  Lonsdale   has   recently    discovered    tiiat    the   Chalk    at  Brighton, 

Gravesend,  and  near  Cambridge,   is    crowded    with    microscopic    shells; 

thousands  of  these  may  be  extracted  from  a  small  lump,  by  scrubbing  it 

with  a  nail  brush  in  water ;  among  these  he  has  recognised  vast  numbers 

VOL.  I. — 29 


338  CONCLUSION. 

important  operations  of  nature  are  conducted  by  the  agency 
of  atoms  too  minute  to  be  either  perceptible  by  the  human 
eye,  or  comprehensible  by  the  human  understanding. 

We  cannot  better  conclude  this  brief  outline  of  the  history 
of  fossil  Polyparies,  extending  as  they  do,  from  the  most 
early  transition  rocks  to  the  present  seas,  than  in  the  words 
with  which  Mr.  Elhs  expresses  the  feelings  excited  in  his 
own  mind  by  his  elaborate  and  beautiful  investigations  of  the 
history  of  living  Corallines. 

"  And  now,  should  it  be  asked,  granting  all  this  to  be  true, 
to  what  end  has  so  much  labour  been  bestowed  in  the  de- 
monstration ?  I  can  only  answer,  that  as  to  me  these  dis- 
quisitions have  opened  new  scenes  of  wonder  and  astonish- 
ment, in  contemplating  how  variously,  how  extensively,  life 
is  distributed  through  the  universe  of  things,  so  it  is  possible, 
that  the  facts  here  related,  and  these  instances  of  nature  ani- 
mated in  a  part  hitherto  unsuspected,  may  excite  the  like 
pleasing  ideas  in  others;  and,  in  minds  more  capacious  and 
penetrating,  lead  to  farther  discoveries,  farther  proofs, 
(should  such  yet  be  wanting,)  that  One  infinitely  wise,  good, 
all-powerful  Being  has  made,  and  still  upholds,  the  Whole 
of  what  is  good  and  perfect ;  and  hence  we  may  learn,  that, 
if  creatures  of  so  low  an  order  in  the  great  scale  of  Nature, 
are  endued  with  faculties  that  enable  them  to  fill  up  their 
sphere  of  action  with  such  Propriety,  we  likewise,  who  are 
advanced  so  many  gradations  above  them,  owe  to  ourselves, 
and  to  Him  who  made  us  and  all  things,  a  constant  applica- 
tion to  acquire  that  degree  of  Rectitude  and  Perfection,  to 
which  we  also  are  endued  wuth  faculties  of  attaining." — 
Ellis  on  Corallines,  p.  103. 

of  the  Valves  of  a  marine  Cypris  (Cytherina)  and  sixteen  species  of  Forami- 
nifers. 


GENERAL  HISTORY  OF  FOSSIL  VEGETABLES.  339 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Proofs  of  Design  in  the  Structure  of  Fossil  Vegetables. 
SECTION  I. 

GENERAL  HISTORY  OF  FOSSIL  VEGETABLES. 

The  history  of  Fossil  Vegetables  has  a  twofold  claim 
upon  our  consideration,  in  relation  to  the  object  of  our  pre- 
sent inquiry.  The  first  regards  the  influence  exerted  on  the 
actual  condition  of  Mankind,  by  the  fossil  carbonaceous  re- 
mains of  Plants,  which  clothed  the  former  surface  of  the 
Earth,  and  has  been  briefly  considered  in  a  former  chapter; 
(Chap.  VII.  P.  57.)  the  second  directs  our  attention  to  the 
history  and  structure  of  the  ancient  members  of  the  vegeta- 
ble kingdom. 

It  appears  that  nearly  at  the  same  points  in  the  progress 
of  stratification,  where  the  most  striking  changes  take  place 
in  the  remains  of  Animal  life,  there  are  found  also  concur- 
rent changes  in  the  character  of  fossil  Vegetables. 

A  large  and  new  field  of  investigation  is  thus  laid  open  to 
our  inquiry,  wherein  we  may  compare  the  laws  which  regu- 
lated the  varying  systems  of  vegetation,  on  the  earlier  sur- 
faces of  our  earth,  with  those  which  actually  prevail. 
Should  it  result  from  this  inquiry,  that  the  families  which 
make  up  our  fossil  Flora  were  formed  on  principles,  either 
identical  with  those  that  regulate  the  development  of  ex- 
isting plants,  or  so  closely  allied  to  them,  as  to  form  con- 
nected parts  of  one  and  the  same  great  system  of  laws,  for 
the  universal  regulation  of  organic  life,  we  shall  add  another 
link  to  the  chain  of  arguments  which  we  extract  from  the 
interior  of  the  Earth,  in  proof  of  the  Unity  of  the  Intelli- 


340  SEA  WEEDS. 

gence  and  of  the  Power,  which  have  presided  over  the  en- 
tire construction  of  the  material  world. 

We  have  seen  that  the  first  remains  of  Animal  life  yet  no- 
ticed are  marine,  and  as  the  existence  of  any  kind  of  animals 
implies  the  prior,  or  at  least  the  contemporaneous  existence 
of  Vegetables,  to  afford  them  sustenance,  the  presence  of 
sea  weeds  in  strata  coeval  wuth  these  most  ancient  animals, 
and  their  continuance  onwards  throughout  all  formations  of 
marine  origin,  is  a  matter  of  a  friori  probability,  which  has 
been  confirmed  by  the  results  of  actual  observation.  M. 
Adolphe  Brongniart,  in  his  admirable  History  of  Fossil  Vege- 
tables,* has  shown,  that  the  existing  submarine  vegetation 
seems  to  admit  of  three  great  divisions  which  characterize,  to 
a  certain  degree,  the  Plants  of  the  frigid,  temperate,  and 
torrid  zones ;  and  that  an  analogous  distribution  of  the  fossil 
submerged  Algoe  appears  to  have  placed  in  the  lowest  and 
most  ancient  formations,  genera  allied  to  those  which  now 
grow  in  regions  of  the  greatest  heat,  whilst  the  forms  of  ma- 
rine vegetation  that  succeed  each  other  in  the  Secondary 
and  Tertiary  periods,  seem  to  approximate  nearer  to  those 
of  our  present  climate,  as  they  are  respectively  enclosed  in 
strata  of  more  recent  formation.-]- 

•  Histoire  des  Vegetaux  Fosslles,  4to.  Paris,  1828. 

f  See  Ad.  Brongniart's  Hist,  de  Veg.  Foss.  1  Liv.  p.  47. — Dr.  Harlan 
in  the  Journal  of  the  Academy  of  Nat.  Sc.  of  Philadelphia,  1831,  and 
Mr.  R.  C.  Taylor  in  Loudon's  Mag.  Nat.  Hist.  Jan.  1834,  have  published 
accounts  of  numerous  deposites  of  fucoids,  as  occurring  in  repeated  thin 
layers  among  the  Transition  strata  of  N.  America,  and  extending  over  a 
long  track  on  the  E.  flank  of  the  Alleghany  chain.  The  most  abundant 
of  these  is  tlie  Fucoides  Alleghaniensis  of  Dr.  Harlan.  I\Ir.  R.  C.  Taylor 
has  found  extensive  deposites  of  fossil  Fuel  in  the  Granwacke  of  central 
Pennsylvania;  in  one  place  seven  courses  of  Plants  are  laid  bare  in  the 
thickness  of  four  feet,  in  anotlicr,  one  hundred  courses  within  a  thick- 
ness of  twenty  feet.  {Jameson's  Journal,  July,  1835,  p.  185.)  I  have 
also  seen  Fucoids  in  great  abundance  in  the  Grauwacke-slate  of  the 
Maritime  Alps,  in  many  parts  of  the  new  road  between  Nice  and  Genoa_ 
I  once  found  small  Fucoids  dispersed  abundantly  through  shale  of  the 
Lias  formation,  from  a  well   at  Cheltenham.      The  Fucoides  granulatus 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  FOSSIL  VEGETABLES.  341 

If  we  take  a  general  review  of  the  remains  of  terrestrial 
Vegetables,  that  are  distributed  through  the  three  great 
periods  of  geological  history,  we  find  a  similar  division  of 
them  into  groups,  each  respectively  indicating  the  same 
successive  diminutions  of  Temperature  upon  the  Land, 
which  have  been  inferred  from  the  remains  of  the  vegetation 
of  the  Sea.  Thus,  in  strata  of  the  Transition  series,  we 
have  an  association  of  a  few  existing  families  of  Endogenous 
Plants,*  chiefly  Ferns  and  Equisetaceae,  with  extinct  id.nvXves^ 
both  Endogenous  and  Exogenous,  which  some  modern  bota- 
nists have  considered  to  indicate  a  Climate  hotter  than  that 
of  the  Tropics  of  the  present  day. 

In  the  Secondary  formations,  the  species  of  these  most 
eaily  families  become  much  less  numerous,  and  many  of 
their  genera,  and  even  of  the  families  themselves  entirely 
cease ;  and  a  large  increase  takes  place  in  two  families,  that 
comprehend  many  existing  forms  of  vegetables,  and  are 
rare  in  the  Coal  formation,  viz.  CycadecB  and  Coniferce. 
The  united  characters  of  the  groups  associated  in  this 
series,  indicate  a  Climate,  whose  temperature  was  nearly 
similar  to  that  which  prevails  within  the  present  Tropics. 

In  the  Tertiary  deposites,  the  greater  number  of  the 
families  of  the  first  series,  and  many  of  those  of  the  second, 
disappear ;  and  a  more  complicated  dicotyledonous^  Vegeta- 

occars  in  Lias  at  Lyme  Regis,  and  at  Boll  in  Wurtemberg ;  and  F.  Targionii 
in  the  Upper  Grceiisand  near  Bignor  in  Sussex. 

*  Endogenous  Plants  are  those,  the  growth  of  whose  stems  takes  place  by 
addition  from  within.  Exogenous  are  those  in  which  the  growth  takes 
place  by  addition  from  without. 

t  Monocotyledonous  Plants  are  those,  the  embryo  of  whose  seed  is  made  up 
of  one  cotyledon  or  lobe,  like  the  seed  of  a  Lily  or  an  Onion.  Dicotyledonous 
Plants  are  those,  the  embryo  of  whose  seed  is  made  up  of  two  lobes,  as  in 
the  Bean  and  Coffee-seed.  The  stems  of  Monocotyledonous  Plants  are  all 
Endogenous,  i.  e.  increase  from  within  by  the  addition  of  bundles  of  vessels 
set  in  cellular  substance,  and  enlarge  their  bulk  by  addition  from  the  centre 
outwards,  e.  g.  Palms,  Canes,  and  Liliacepus  plants.  The  stems  of  Dicotyle- 
donous Plants  are  all  Exogenous,  i.  e.  increase  externally  by  the  addition  of 

^9* 


342  VEGETABLE  ORIGIN  OF  COAL. 

tion  takes  place  of  the  simpler  forms  which  predominated 
through  the  two  preceding  periods.  Smaller  Equisetacea; 
also  succeed  to  the  gigantic  Calamites ;  Ferns  are  reduced 
in  size  and  number  to  the  scanty  proportions  they  bear  on 
the  southern  verge  of  our  temperate  climates;  the  presence 
of  Palms  attests  the  absence  of  any  severe  degree  of  cold, 
and  the  general  character  marks  a  Climate  nearly  approach- 
ing to  that  of  the  Mediterranean. 

We  owe  to  the  labours  of  Schlotheim,  Sternberg  and  Ad. 
Brongniart  the  foundation  of  such  a  systematic  arrangement 
of  fossil  plants,  as  enables  us  to  enter,  by  means  of  the  analo- 
gies of  recent  plants,  into  the  difficult  question  of  the  Ancient 
Vegetation  of  the  Earth,  during  those  periods  when  the 
strata  were  under  the  process  of  formation. 

Few  persons  are  aware  of  the  nature  of  the  evidence, 
upon  which  we  have  at  length  arrived  at  a  certain  and 
satisfactory  conclusion,  respecting  the  long  disputed  ques- 
tion as  to  the  vegetable  origin  of  Coal.  It  is  not  unfrequent 
to  find  among  the  cinders  beneath  our  grates,  traces  of 
fossil  plants,  whose  cavities  having  been  filled  with  silt,  at 
the  time  of  their  deposition  in  the  vegetable  mass,  that  gave 
origin  to  the  Coal,  have  left  the  impression  of  their  forms 
upon  clay  and  sand  enclosed  within  them,  sharp  as  those 
received  by  a  cast  from  the  interior  of  a  mould. 

A  still  more  decisive  proof  of  the  vegetable  origin,  even 
of  the  most  perfect  bituminous  Coal  has  recently  been  dis- 
covered by  Mr.  Hutton ;  he  has  ascertained  that  if  any  of 
the  three  varieties  of  Coal  found  near  Newcastle  be  cut 
into  very  thin  slices  and  submitted  to  the  microscope,  more 
or  less  of  vegetable  structure  can  be  recognised.* 


concentric  layers  from  without;    these    form   the   rinsjs^  wliich  mark  tlie 
amount  of  annual  growtli  in  the  Oak  and  other  forest  trees  in  our  climate. 

*  "In   these  varieties  of  coal,"  says    Mr.    Hutton,  ''even  in   samples 
taken  indiscriminately,,  more  or  less  of  Vegetable  Te.\ture    could  alway.-i 


STATE  OF  FOSSIL  PLANTS  IN  NEWCASTLE  COAL-PITS.         343 

We  shall  farther  illustrate  this  point,  by  a  brief  descrip- 
tion of  the  manner  in  which  the  remains  of  vegetables  are 
disposed  in  the  Carboniferous  strata  of  two  important  Coal 
fields,  namely,  those  of  Newcastle  in  the  north  of  England, 
and  of  Swina  in  Bohemia,  on  the  N.  W.  of  Prague. 

The  Newcastle  Coal-field  is  at  the  present  time  supplying 
rich  materials  to  the  Fossil  Flora  of  Great  Britain,  now 

be  discovered,  thus  affording  the  fullest  evidence,  if  any  such  proof  were 
wanting,  of  the  Vegetable  Origin  of  Coal. 

"  Each  of  these  three  kinds  of  coal,  besides  the  fine  distinct  reticulation 
of  the  original  vegetable  texture,  exhibits  other  cells,  which  are  filled  with 
a  light  wine-yellovvcoloured  matter,  apparently  of  a  bituminous  nature,  and 
which  is  so  volatile  as  to  be  entirely  expelled  by  heat,  before  any  change 
is  effected  in  the  other  constituents  of  the  coal.  The  number  and  ap- 
pearance of  these  cells  vary  with  each  variety  of  coal.     In   caking  coal, 

the   cells  are   comparatively  few,  and   are  highly  elongated In  the  finest 

portions  of  tliis  coal,  where  tlie  crystalline  structure,  as  indicated  by  the 
rhomboidal  form  of  its  fragments,  is  most  developed,  the  cells  are  completelv 
obliterated. 

"The  slate-coal,  contains  two  kinds  of  cells,  both  of  which  are  filled  with 
yellow  bituminous  matter.  One  kind  is  that  already  noticed  in  caking  coal ; 
while  the  other  kind  of  cells  constitutes  groups  of  smaller  cells,  of  an  elon- 
gated circular  figure. 

"  In  those  varieties  which  go  under  the  name  of  Cannel,  Parrot,  and 
Splent  Coal,  the  crystalline  structure,  so  conspicuous  in  fine  caking  coal, 
is  wholly  wanting;  the  first  kind  of  cells  are  rarely  seen,  and  the  whole 
surface  displays  an  almost  uniform  series  of  the  second  class  of  cells, 
filled  with  bituminous  matter,  and  separated  from  each  other  by  thin  fibrous 
divipion;:.  Mr.  Hutton  considers  it  highly  probable  that  these  cells  are 
derived  from  the  reticular  texture  of  the  parent  plant,  rounded  and  con- 
fused by  the  enormous  pressure,  to  which  the  vegetable  matter  has  been 
subject." 

The  author  next  states  that  though  the  crystalline  and  uncrystalline,  or, 
in  other  terms,  perfectly  and  imperfectly  developed  varieties  of  coal  gene- 
rally occur  in  distinct  strata,  yet  it  is  easy  to  find  specimens  which  in  the 
compass  of  a  single  square  inch,  contain  both  varieties.  Erom  this  fact 
as  also  from  the  exact  similarity  of  position  which  they  occupy  in  the  mine, 
the  differences  in  different  varieties  of  coal  are  ascribed  to  original  dif- 
ference in  the  plants  from  which  they  were  derived.  Proceedings  of  Geolo- 
gical Society.  Land,  and  Edin.  Phil.  Mag.  3d  Series,  Vol.  2  p.  302.  April. 
1833. 


344  FOSSIL  PLANTS  IN  COAL-PITS. 

under  publication  by  Professor  Lindley  and  Mr.  Hutton. 
The  plants  of  the  Bohemian  Coal-field  laid  the  foundation  of 
Count  Sternberg's  Flore  du  7nonde  primitif,  the  publication 
of  which  commenced  at  Leipsic  and  Prague  in  1820. 

Lindley  and  Hutton  state  (Fossil  Flora,  Vol.  I.  page  16) 
that  "  It  is  the  beds  of  shale,  or  argillaceous  schistus,  which 
afford  the  most  abundant  supply  of  these  curious  relics  of  a 
former  World ;  the  fine  particles  of  which  they  are  com- 
posed having  sealed  up  and  retained  in  wonderful  perfec- 
tion, and  beauty,  the  most  delicate  forms  of  the  vege- 
table organic  structure.  Where  shale  forms  the  roof  of 
the  workable  seams  of  coal,  as  it  generally  does,  we  have 
the  most  abundant  display  of  fossils,  and  this,  not  perhaps 
arising  so  much  from  any  peculiarity  in  these  beds,  as  from 
their  being  more  extensively  known  and  examined  than  any 
others.  The  principal  deposite  is  not  in  immediate  contact 
with  the  coal,  but  about  from  twelve  to  twenty  inches 
above  it ;  and  such  is  the  immense  profusion  in  this  situa- 
tion, that  they  are  not  unfrequently  the  cause  of  very  serious 
accidents,  by  breaking  the  adhesion  of  the  shale  bed,  and 
causing  it  to  separate  and  fall,  when  by  the  operation  of 
the  miner  the  coal  which  supported  it  is  removed.  After 
an  extensive  fall  of  this  kind  has  taken  place,  it  is  a  curious 
sight  to  see  the  roof  of  the  mine  covered  with  these  vegeta- 
ble forms,  some  of  them  of  great  beauty  and  delicacy ;  and 
the  observer  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  wath  the  extraordinary 
confusion,  and  the  numerous  marks  of  strong  mechanical 
action  exhibited  by  their  broken  and  disjointed  remains." 

A  similar  abundance  of  distinctly  preserved  vegetable 
remains,  occurs  throughout  the  other  Coal  fields  of  Great 
Britain.  But  the  finest  example  I  have  ever  witnessed,  is 
that  of  the  coal  mines  of  Bohemia  just  mentioned.  Tiie 
most  elaborate  imitations  of  Kving  foliage  upon  the  painted 
ceilings  of  Italian  palaces,  bear  no  comparison  with  the 
beauteous  profusion  of  extinct  vegetable  forms,  with  which 
the  galleries  of  these  instructive  coal-mines  are  overhung^ 


PLANTS  IN  THE  COAL  FORMATION.  345 

The  roof  is  covered  as  with  a  canopy  of  gorgeous  tapestry- 
enriched  with  festoons  of  most  graceful  fohage,  flung  in 
wild,  irregular  profusion  over  every  portion  of  its  surface. 
The  effect  is  heightened  by  the  contrast  of  the  coal-black 
colour  of  these  vegetables,  with  the  light  ground-work  of 
the  rock  to  which  they  are  attached.  The  spectator  feels 
himself  transported,  as  if  by  enchantment,  into  the  forests  of 
another  world ;  he  beholds  Trees,  of  forms  and  characters 
now  unknown  upon  the  surface  of  the  earth,  presented  to 
his  senses  almost  in  the  beauty  and  vigour  of  their  primeval 
life ;  their  scaly  stems,  and  bending  branches,  with  their  de- 
licate apparatus  of  foliage,  are  all  spread  forth  before  him  ; 
little  impaired  by  the  lapse  of  countless  Ages,  and  bearing 
faithful  records  of  extinct  systems  of  vegetation,  which  be- 
gan and  terminated  in  times  of  which  these  relics  are  the 
infallible  Historians. 

Such  are  the  grand  natural  Herbaria  wherein  these  most 
ancient  remains  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  are  preserved,  in 
a  state  of  integrity,  little  short  of  their  living  perfection, 
under  conditions  of  our  Planet  which  exist  no  more. 


SECTION  II. 

VEGETABLES  IN  STRATA  ON  THE  TRANSITION  SERIES.* 

The  remains  of  plants  of  the  Transition  period  are  most 
abundant  in  that  newest  portion  of  the  deposites  of  this  era. 
which  constitutes  the  Coal  Formation,  and  afford  decisive 
evidence  as  to  the  condition  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  at 
this  early  epoch  in  the  history  of  Organic  Life. 

The  Nature  of  our  Evidence  will  be  best  illustrated,  by 
selecting  a  few  examples  of  the  many  genera  of  fossil  plants 

*  See  PI.  1.  Figs.  1,  to  13. 


346  CALAMITES. 

that  are  preserved  in  the  Strata  of  the  Carboniferous  Order, 
beginning  with  those  which  are  common  both  to  the  ancient 
and  existing  states  of  Vegetable  Life. 

Equisetacece.* 

Among  existing  vegetables,  the  Equisetacese  are  well 
known  in  this  chmate  in  the  common  Horse-tail  of  our 
swamps  and  ditches.  The  extent  of  this  family  reaches 
from  Lapland  to  the  Torrid  Zone,  its  species  are  most 
abundant  in  the  temperate  zone,  decrease  in  size  and  num- 
ber as  we  approach  the  regions  of  cold,  and  arrive  at  their 
greatest  magnitude  in  the  warm  and  humid  regions  of  the 
Tropics,  where  their  numbers  are  few. 

M.  Ad.  Brongniartf  has  divided  fossil  Equisetacese  into 
two  Genera ;  the  one  exhibits  the  characters  of  living 
Equiseta,  and  is  of  rare  occurrence  in  a  fossil  state ;  the 
other  is  very  abundant,  and  presents  forms  that  differ  mate- 
rially from  them,  and  often  attain  a  size  unknown  among 
living  Equisetacese ;  these  have  been  arranged  under  the 
distinct  genus  Calamites,'^  they  abound  universally  in  the 
most  ancient  Coal  formation,  occur  but  sparingly  in  the 
lower  strata  of  the  Secondary  series,  and  are  entirely  want- 
ing in  the  Tertiary  formations,  and  also  on  the  actual  sur- 
face of  the  earth. 

The  same  increased  development  of  size,  which  in  recent 

*  See  PI.  1.  Fig.  2. 

t  Histoiredes  Vegetaux  Fossils,  2d  Livraison. 

t  Calamites  are  characterized  by  large  and  simple  cylindrical  stems,  articu- 
lated at  intervals,  but  either  without  sheaths, or  presenting  them  under  forms 
unknown  among  existing  Equiseta ;  they  have  sometimes  marks  of  verti- 
cillated  Branches  around  their  articulations,  the  leaves  also  are  without 
joints.  But  the  most  obvious  feature  wherein  they  differ  from  Equiseta,  is 
their  bulk  and  height,  sometimes  exceeding  six  or  seven  inches  in  diameter, 
whilst  the  diameter  of  a  living  Equisetum  rarely  exceeds  half  an  inch.  A 
Calamite  fourteen  inches  in  diameter  has  lately  been  placed  in  the  Museum 
at  Leeds. 


FERNS.  34'7 

Equisetacea3  accompanies  their  geographical  approximation 
to  the  Equator,  is  found  in  the  fossil  species  of  this  order  to 
accompany  the  higher  degrees  of  Antiquity  of  the  strata  in 
which  they  occur;  and  this  without  respect  to  the  latitude, 
in  which  these  formations  may  be  placed.  M.  Ad.  Brong- 
niart  (Prodrome,  p.  167)  enumerates  twelve  species  of 
Calamites  and  two  of  Equiseta  in  his  list  of  plants  found  in 
strata  of  the  carboniferous  order. 

Ferns.* 

The  family  of  Ferns,  both  in  the  living  and  fossil  Flora, 
is  the  most  numerous  of  vascular  Cryptogamous  plants.f 
Our  knowledge  of  the  geographical  distribution  of  existing 
Ferns,  as  connected  with  Temperature,  enables  us  in  some 
degree  to  appreciate  the  information  to  be  derived  from  the 
character  of  fossil  Ferns,  in  regard  to  the  early  conditions 
and  Climate  of  our  globe. 

The  total  known  number  of  existing  species  of  Ferns  is 
about  1500.  These  admit  of  a  threefold  geographical  dis- 
tribution : 

1.  Those  of  the  temperate  and  frigid  zone  of  the  northern 
hemisphere,  containing  144  species. 

2.  Those  of  the  southern  temperate  zone,  including  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  parts  of  South  America,  and  the  extra* 
tropical  part  of  New  Holland,  and  New  Zealand,  140 
species. 

*  See  PL  I.  No.  6.  7.  8.  37.  38.  39. 

\  Ferns  are  distinguished  from  all  other  vegetables  by  the  peculiar  divi- 
sion  and  distribution  of  the  veins  of  the  leaves;  and  in  arborescent  species, 
by  tlieir  cylindrical  stems  without  branches,  and  by  the  regular  disposition 
and  shape  of  the  scars  left  upon  the  stem,  at  the  jioint  from  which  the 
Petioles,  or  leafstalks,  have  fallen  off.  Upon  the  former  of  these  characters 
M.  Ad.  Brongniart  has  chiefly  founded  his  classification  of  fossil  Ferns,  it 
being  impossible  to  apply  to  them  the  system  adopted  in  the  arrangement  of 
living  Genera,  founded  on  the  varied  disposition  of  the  fructification,  which 
IS  rarely  preserved  in  a  fossil  state. 


348  AKBORESCENT  FERNS. 

3.  Those  which  grow  within  30  or  35  degrees  on  each 
side  of  the  Equator,  1200  species. 

If  we  compare  the  amount  of  Ferns  with  the  united  num- 
bers of  other  tribes  of  plants,  we  may  form  some  idea  of  the 
relative  importance  of  this  family  in  the  vegetation  of  the 
district,  or  period  to  which  we  apply  such  comparison. 
Thus,  in  the  entire  number  of  known  species  of  plants  now 
existing  on  the  globe,  we  have  1500  Ferns  and  45,000  Pha- 
nerogamisB,  being  in  the  proportion  of  1  to  30.  In  Europe 
this  proportion  varies  from  1 :  35  to  1 :  80,  and  may  average 
1  :  60.  Between  the  Tropics,  Humboldt  estimates  the  num- 
ber in  Equinoxial  America  at  1 :  36,  and  Mr.  Brown  gives 
1 :  20  as  the  proportion  in  those  parts  of  intertropical  Conti- 
nents which  are  most  favourable*  to  Ferns. 

Mr.  Brown  (Appendix  to  Tuckey's  Congo  Expedition) 
states  that  the  circumstances  most  favourable  to  the  growth 
of  Ferns  are  humidity,  shade,  and  heat.  These  circum- 
stances are  most  frequently  combined  in  the  highest  degree 
in  small  and  lofty  tropical  islands,  where  the  air  is  charged 
with  humidity,  which  it  is  continually  depositing  on  the 
mountains,  and  thereby  imparting  freshness  to  the  soil. 
Thus  in  Jamaica  Ferns  are  to  the  Phanerogamiae  nearly  in 
the  proportion  of  1  to  10;  in  New  Zealand  as  1  to  6;  in 
Taiti  as  1  to  4 ;  in  Norfolk  Island  as  1  to  3 ;  in  St.  Helena 
as  1  to  2 ;  in  Tristan  d'Acunha  (extratropical)  as  2  to  3. 
Ferns  also  are  the  most  abundant  Plants  in  the  Islands  of 
the  Indian  Archipelago. 

It  appears  still  farther,  that  not  only  are  certain  Genera 
and  tribes  of  Ferns  peculiar  to  certain  cHmates,  but  that 
the  enlarged  size  of  the  arborescent  species  depends  in  a 
great  degree  on  Temperature,  since  Arberescent  Ferns  are 
now  found  chiefly  within,  or  near  the  hmit  of  the  Tropics.f 

*  Botony  of  Congo,  p.  42. 

+  The  few  exceptions  to  this  rule  appear  to  be  confined  to  the  southern 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  FOSSIL  FERNS.  349 

From  the  above  considerations  as  to  the  characters  and 
distribution  of  living  Ferns,  M.  Ad.  Brongniart  has  applied 
himself  with  much  ingenuity,  to  illustrate  the  varying  condi- 
tion and  climate  of  our  Globe,  during  the  successive  periods 
of  geological  formations.  Finding  that  the  fossil  remains  of 
Ferns  decrease  continually  in  number,  as  we  ascend  from 
the  most  ancient  to  the  most  recent  strata,  he  founds  upon 
this  fact  an  important  conjecture,  with  respect  to  the  succes- 
sive diminutions  of  temperature,  and  changes  of  climate, 
which  the  earth  has  undergone.  Thus,  in  the  great  Coal 
formation  there  are  about  120  known  species  of  Ferns,  form- 
ing almost  one  half  of  the  entire  known  Flora  of  this  forma- 
tion ;  these  species  represent  but  a  small  number  of  the  forms 
which  occur  among  living  Ferns,  and  nearly  all  belong  to 
the  Tribe  of  Polypodiaceje,  in  which  Tribe  we  find  the 
greater  number  of  existing  arborescent  species.*  Frag- 
ments of  the  stems  of  arborescent  Ferns  occur  occasionally 
in  the  same  formation.  M.  Brongniart  considers  these  cir- 
cumstances as  indicating  a  vegetation,  analogous  to  that  of 
the  Islands  in  the  equinoctial  regions  of  the  present  Earth : 
and  infers  that  the  same  conditions  of  Heat  and  Humidity 
which  favour  the  existing  vegetation  of  these  islands,  pre- 
vailed in  still  greater  degree  during  the  formation  of  the 
■Carboniferous  strata  of  the  Transition  Series. 

hemisphere,  and  one  species  is  found  in  New  Zealand  as  far  south  as  lat. 
46°.     See  Brown  in  Appendix  to  Flinder's  Voyage. 

*  In  Plate  1,  figs.  7,  and  37,  represent  two  of  tlie  graceful  forms  of 
arborescent  Ferns  whicli  adorn  our  modern  tropics,  where  they  attain  the 
height  of  forty  and  fifty  feet. 

An  arborescent  Fern  forty-five  feet  high  (Asophila  brunoniana,)  from 
Silhet  in  Bengal,  may  be  seen  in  the  staircase  of  the  British  JJuseum. 
The  stems  of  these  Ferns  are  distinguished  from  those  of  all  arborescent 
MonocotyledonoMs  plants,  by  the  peculiar  form  and  disposition  of  the 
scars,  from  which  the  Petioles  or  leaf  stalks  have  fallen  off.  In  Palms 
and  other  arborescent  Monocotyledons,  the  leaves,  or  Petioles,  embrace 
the  stem  and  leave  broad  transverse  scars,  or  rings,  whose  longer  diame- 
ter is  horizontal.    In  the  case  of  Ferns  alone,  wilh  the  single  exception 

VOL.  I. — 30 


350  LYCOPODIACE^* 

In  strata  of  the  Secondary  Series,  the  absolute  and  rela- 
tive numbers  of  species  of  Ferns  considerably  diminishes^ 
forming  scarcely  one  third  of  the  known  Flora  of  these 
midway  periods  of  geological  history.  (See  PI.  1.  Figs.  37. 
38.  39.) 

In  the  Tertiary  Strata,  Ferns  appear  to  bear  to  other  ve- 
getables nearly  the  same  proportion  as  in  the  temperate  re- 
gions of  the  present  Earth. 


Lepidodendron.* 

The  genus  Lepidodendron  comprehends  many  species  of 
fossil  Plants,  which  are  of  large  size,  and  of  very  frequent 
occurrence  in  the  Coal  formation.  In  some  points  of  their 
structure  they  have  been  compared  to  Coniferee,  but  in  other 
respects  and  in  their  general  appearance,  with  the  exception 
of  their  great  size,  they  very  much  resemble  the  Lycofo- 
diacecB,  or  Cluh  Moss  Tribe.  (See  PI.  1.  Figs.  9.  10.)  This 
tribe  at  the  present  day,  contains  no  species  more  than  three 
feet  high,  but  the  greater  part  of  them  are  weak,  or  creep- 

of  Anglopteris,  the  scars  are  either  elliptic  or  rhomboidal,  and  have  their 
longer  diameter  vertical. 

M.  Ad.  Brong-niart  (Hist.  des.  Veg.  Foss.  p.  261,  Pi.  79.  80.)  has  de- 
scribed and  figured  the  leaf  and  stem  of  an  arborescent  fern  (Anomopteris, 
Mougeottii)  from  the  variegated  sand-stone  of  Heilegenberg  in  the  Vosges. 
Beautiful  leaves  of  this  species,  with  their  capsules  of  fructification  some- 
times adhering  to  the  pinnules,  abound  in  the  New  red  sand-stone  formation 
of  this  district. 

M.  Cotta  has  published  an  interesting  Work  on  fossil  Remains  of  arbo- 
rescent ferns,  which  occur  abundantly  in  the  New  red  sand-stone  of  Saxony 
near  Chemnitz.  (Dendrolilhen.  Dresden  and  Leipsig,  1832.)  These  con- 
sist chiefly  of  Sections  of  the  Trunks  of  many  extinct  species,  sufficiently 
allied  in  structure  to  that  of  existing  arborescent  Ferns,  to  leave  little  doubt 
that  they  are  the  remains  of  extinct  species  of  arborescent  Plants  of  this  fami- 
ly, that  grew  in  Europe  at  this  period  of  the  Secondary  formation. 

*  PI.  1.  Figs.  11.  12.  and  PI.  55,  Figs.  1.  2.  3. 


LEPIDODENDRON.  351 

ing  plants,  while  their  earliest  fossil  representatives  appear 
to  have  attained  the  dimensions  of  Forest  Trees.* 

Existing  Lycopodiaceae  follow  nearly  the  same  law  as 
ferns  and  Equisetacese,  in  respect  of  geographical  distribu- 
tion ;  being  largest  and  most  abundant  in  hot  and  humid 
situations  within  the  Tropics,  especially  in  small  islands. 
The  belief  that  Lepidodendra  were  allied  to  the  Lycopo- 
diaceae, and  their  size,  and  abundant  occurrence  among  the 
fossils  of  the  Coal  Formation  have  led  writers  on  fossil 
plants  to  infer  that  great  heat,  and  moisture,  and  an  insular 
Position  were  the  conditions,  under  which  the  first  forms 
of  this  family  attained  that  gigantic  stature,  which  they  ex- 
hibit in  deposites  of  the  Transition  period ;  thus  corrobo- 
rating the  conclusion  they  had  derived  from  the  Calamites 
associated  with  them,  as  already  mentioned.f 

Lindley  and  Hutton  state,  that  Lepidodendra  are,  after 
Calamites,  the  most  abundant  class  of  fossils  in  the  Coal 
formation  of  the  North  of  England  ;  they  are  sometimes  of 
enormous  size,  fragments  of  stems  occurring  from  twenty 
to  forty-five  feet  long ;  in  the  Jarrow  colliery  a  compressed 
tree  of  this  class  measured  four  feet  two  inches  in  breadth. 

*  Prof.  Lindley  states  that  the  affinities  of  existing  LycopodiaceeE  are 
intermediate  between  Ferns  and  ConiferiE  on  the  one  hand,  and  Ferns  and 
Mosses  on  the  otlier ;  They  are  related  to  Ferns  in  the  want  of  sexual  ap- 
paratus, and  in  the  abundance  of  annular  ducts  contained  in  their  axis  ;  to 
Coniferae,  in  the  aspect  of  the  stems  of  some  of  the  larger  kinds;  and  to 
Mosses  in  their  whole  appearance. 

f  The  leaves  of  existing  Lycopodiaceae  are  simple,  and  arranged  in  spiral 
lines  around  the  stem,  and  impress  on  its  surface  scars  of  rhomboidal  or 
lanceolate  form,  marked  with  prints  of  the  insertions  of  vessels.  In  the 
fossil  Lepidodendra,  we  find  a  large  and  beautiful  variety  of  similar  scars, 
arranged  like  scales  in  spiral  order,  over  the  entire  surface  of  the  stems.  A 
large  division  of  these  are  arborescent  and  dichotomous,  and  have  their 
branches  covered  with  simple  lanceolate  leaves.  Our  figure  of  Lepidoden- 
dron  Sternbergii  (PI.  55.  Figs.  1.  2.  3.)  represents  all  these  characters  in  a 
single  Tree  from  the  Coal  mines  of  Swina  in  Bohemia. 

The  form  of  the  scales  varies  at  different  parts  of  the  same  stem,  those 
nearest  the  base  are  elongated  in  the  vertical  direction. 


352  SIGILLARIA. 

Thirty-four  species  of  Lepidodendron  are  enumerated  in 
M.  Ad.  Brongniart's  Catalogue  of  fossil  plants  of  the  coal 
formation. 

The  internal  structure  of  the  Lepidodendron  has  been 
shown  to  be  intermediate  between  LycopodiaccEe  and  Coni- 
ferae,*  and  the  conclusions  which  Prof  Lindley  draws  from 
the  intermediate  condition  of  this  curious  extinct  genus  of 
i'ossil  plants,  are  in  perfect  accordance  with  the  inferences 
which  we  have  had  occasion  to  derive  from  analogous  con- 
ditions in  extinct  genera  of  fossil  animals.  "  To  Botanists, 
this  discovery  is  of  very  high  interest,  as  it  proves  that 
those  systematists  are  right,  who  contend  for  the  possibiHty 
of  certain  chasms  now  existing  between  the  gradations  of 
organization,  being  caused  by  the  extinction  of  genera,  or 
even  of  whole  orders ;  the  existence  of  which  was  necessary 
to  complete  the  harmony  which  it  is  believed  originally  ex- 
isted in  the  structure  of  all  parts  of  the  Vegetable  kingdom. 
By  means  of  I^epidodendron,  a  better  passage  is  established 
from  Flowering  to  Flowerless  Plants,  than  by  either  Equi- 
setum  or  Cycas,  or  any  other  known  genus."  Lindley  and 
Hutton's  Fossil  Flora,  vol.  ii.  page  43. 


Sigillaina.f 

Besides  the  above  plants  of  the  Coal  formation  which  are 
connected  with  existing  Families  or  Genera,  there  occur 
many  others  which  can  be  referred  to  no  known  type  in  the 
vegetable  kingdom.  We  have  seen  that  the  Calamitcs  take 
their  place  in  the  existing  family  of  Equisetaceas ;  that  many 
fossil  Ferns  are  referable  to  living  genera  of  this  extensive 
family ;  and  that  Lepidodendra  approximate  to  living  Lyco- 

*  See  annual  report  of  the  Yorkshire  Phil.  Society  for  1832.  William's 
Fossil  Vegetables,  1833,  PJ,  12.  13,  and  Lindley  and  Button's  Fossil  Flora. 
PI.  98  and  99. 

t  PI.  56,  Fijrs.  ].2. 


SIGILLARIA.  353 

podiacese  and  Coniferae.  Together  with  these,  there  occur 
other  groups  of  Plants  unknown  in  modern  vegetation,  and 
of  which  the  duration  seems  to  have  been  Umited  to  the 
Epochs  of  the  Transition  Period.  Among  the  largest  and 
tallest  of  these  unknown  forms  of  Plants,  we  find  collossal 
Trunks  of  many  species,  which  M.  Ad.  Brongniart  has 
designated  by  the  name  of  Sigillaria.  These  are  dispersed 
throughout  the  sand-stones  and  shales  that  accompany  the 
Coal,  and  can  occasionally  be  detected  in  the  Coal  itself,  to 
the  substance  of  which  they  have  largely  contributed  by  their 
remains.  They  are  sometimes  seen  in  an  erect  position, 
where  views  of  the  strata  are  afforded  by  clifls  on  the  sea 
shore,  or  by  inland  sections  of  quarries,  banks  of  rivers, 
&c.* 


*  On  the  coast  of  Northumberland,  at  Creswell  hall,  and  Newbiggin,  near 
Morpeth,  many  stems  of  Sigillaria  may  be  seen,  standing  erect  at  right 
angles  to  the  planes  of  alternating  strata  of  shale  and  sand-stone;  they  very 
from  ten  to  twenty  feet  in  height,  and  from  one  to  three  feet  in  diameter, 
and  are  usually  truncated  at  their  upper  end;  many  terminate  downwards  in 
a  bulb-shaped  enlargement,  near  the  commencement  of  the  roots,  but  no 
roots  remain  attached  to  any  of  them.  Mr.  W.  C.  Trevelyan  counted  twenty 
portions  of  such  Trees,  within  the  length  of  half  a  mile;  all  but  four  or  five 
of  these  were  upright;  the  bark,  which  was  seen  when  they  were  first  unco- 
vered, but  soon  fell  off,  was  about  half  an  inch  in  thickness,  and  entirely 
converted  into  coal.  Mr.  Trevelyan  observed  four  varieties  of  these  stems, 
and  engraved  a  sketch  of  one  of  them  in  1816,  which  is  copied  in  Count 
Sternberg's  Table  7.  Fig.  5. 

In  September,  1834,  I  saw  in  one  of  the  Coal  Mines  of  Earl  Fitzwilliam, 
at  Elsecar,  near  Rotherham,  many  large  Trunks  of  Sigillaria,  in  the  sides 
of  a  gallery  by  which  you  walk  into  the  mine,  from  the  outcrop  of  a  bed  of 
Coal  about  six  feet  thick.  These  stems  were  inclined  in  all  directions,  and 
some  of  them  nearly  vertical.  The  interior  of  those  whose  inclination 
exceeded  45"  was  filled  with  an  indurated  mixture  of  clay  and  sand;  the 
lower  extremity  of  several  rested  on  the  upper  surface  of  the  bed  of  Coal. 
None  had  any  traces  of  Roots,  nor  could  any  one  of  them  have  grown  in  ita 
present  place. 

M.  Alex.  Brongniart  has  engraved  a  section  at  St.  Etienne,  in  which 
many  similar  stems  are  seen  in  an  erect  position,  in  sand-stone   of  the 

30* 


354  SYRINGODENDRON. 

The  vertical  position  of  these  trunks,  however,  is  only 
occasional  and  accidental ;  they  lie  inclined  at  all  degrees 
throughout  all  the  strata  of  the  carboniferous  series ;  but  are 
most  frequently  prostrate,  and  parallel  to  the  lines  of  strati- 
fication, and,  in  this  position  are  usually  compressed.  When 
erect,  or  highly  inclined,  they  retain  their  natural  shape,  and 
their  interior  is  filled  with  sand  or  clay,  often  different  from 
that  of  the  stratum  in  which  their  lower  parts  are  fixed,  and 
mixed  with  small  fragments  of  various  other  plants.  As 
this  foreign  matter  has  thus  entirely  filled  the  interior  of  these 
trunks,  it  follows  that  they  must  have  been  without  any  trans- 
verse dissepiments,  and  hollow  throughout,  at  the  time  when 
the  sand,  and  mud,  and  fragments  of  other  plants  found 
admission  to  their  interior.  The  bark,  which  alone  remains, 
and  has  been  converted  into  coal,  probably  surrounded  an 
axis  composed  of  soft  and  perishable  pulpy  matter,  like  the 
fleshy  interior  of  stems  of  living  Cactese ;  and  the  decay 
of  this  soft  internal  trunk,  whilst  the  stems  were  floating  in 
the  water,  probably  made  room  for  the  introduction  of  the 
sand  and  clay. 

These  trunks  usually  vary  from  half  a  foot  to  three  feet 
in  diameter.  When  perfect,  the  height  of  many  of  them 
must  have  been  fifty  or  sixty  feet,  at  least.* 


Coal  formation,  and  infers  from  this  fact  that  they  grew  on  the  spot  where 
tlicy  are  now  found.  M.  Constant  Provost  justly  objects  to  this  inference, 
that,  had  they  grown  on  the  spot,  they  would  all  have  been  rooted  in  the 
same  stratum,  and  not  have  had  their  bases  in  different  strata.  When  I 
visited  these  quarries  in  1826,  there  were  other  trunks,  more  numerous 
than  the  upright  ones,  inclined  in  various  directions, 

I  have  seen  but  one  example,  viz.  that  of  Balgray  quarry,  three  miles  N. 
of  Glasgow,  of  erect  stumps  of  large  trees  fixed  by  their  roots  in  sand-stone 
of  the  coal  formation,  in  which,  when  soft,  they  appear  to  have  grown,  close 
to  one  another.     See  Lond.  and  Edin.  Phil.  Mag.  Dec.  1835,  p.  487. 

*  M.  Ad.  Brongniart  found  in  a  coal  mine  in  Westphalia  near  Essen, 
the  compressed  stem  of  a  Sigillaria  laid  horizontally,  to  the  length  of  forty 
feet"  it  was  about  twelve  inches  in  diameter  at  its  lower,  and  six  inches 
at  its  upper  extremity,  where  it  divided  into  two  parts,  each  four  inclics- 


BARK  FLUTED  AND  SCARRED.  355 

Count  Sternberg  has  applied  the  name  Syringodendron  to 
many  species  of  Sigillaria,  from  the  parallel  pipe-shaped 
flutings  that  extend  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  of  their  trunks. 
These  trunks  are  without  joints,  and  many  of  them  attain 
the  size  of  forest  trees.  The  flutings  on  their  surface  bear 
dot-like,  or  linear  impressions,  of  various  figures,  marking 
the  points  at  which  the  leaves  were  inserted  into  the  stem. 
This  fluted  portion  of  the  Sigillarige,  formed  their  external 
covering,  separable  like  true  bark  from  the  soft  internal  axis, 
or  pulpy  trunk ;  it  varied  in  thickness  from  an  inch  to  one- 
eighth  of  an  inch,  and  is  usually  converted  into  pure  coal. 
(See  PI.  56,  Fig.  2.  a,  h,  c.) 

A  fleshy  trunk  surrounded  and  strengthened  only  by  such 
thin  bark,  must  have  been  incapable  of  supporting  large  and 
heavy  branches  at  its  summit.  It  therefore  probably  termi- 
nated abruptly  at  the  top,  like  many  of  the  larger  species  of 
living  Cactus,  and  the  abundant  disposition  of  small  leaves 
around  the  entire  extent  of  the  trunk  seems  to  favour  this 
hypothesis. 

The  impressions,  or  scars,  which  formed  the  articulations 
of  leaves  on  the  longitudinal  flutings  of  the  trunks  of  Sigil- 
laria3,  are  disposed  in  vertical  rows  on  the  centre  of  each 
fluting  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  of  the  trunk.  Each  of 
these  scars  marks  the  place  from  which  a  leaf  has  fallen  ofl^, 
and  exhibits  usually  two  apertures,  by  which  bundles  of 
vessels  passed  through  the  bark  to  connect  the  leaves  with 
the  axis  of  the  tree.  No  leaf  has  yet  been  found  attached 
to  any  of  these  trunks ;  we  are  therefore  left  entirely  to 
conjecture  as  to  what  their  nature  may  have  been.  This 
non-occurrence  of  a  single  leaf  upon  any  one  of  the  many 
thousand  trunks  that  have  come  under  observation,  leads  us 
to  infer  that  every  leaf  was  separated  from  its  articulation, 
and  that  many  of  them  perhaps,  like  the  fleshy  interior  of 

in  diameter.    The  Jower  end  was  broken  off  abruptly.    Lindley  and  Hut- 
ton's  Foss.  Flora,  vol.  i.  p.  153. 


356  EXTINCT  GENERA  OF  CONIFER/E. 

the  stems,  had  undergone  decomposition,  during  the  interval 
in  which  they  were  floating  between  their  place  of  growth, 
and  that  of  their  final  submersion. 

M.  Ad.  Brongniart  enumerates  forty-two  species  of  Si- 
gillaria,  and  considers  them  to  have  been  nearly  allied  to 
arborescent  Ferns,  with  leaves  very  small  in  proportion  to 
the  size  of  the  stems,  and  differently  disposed  from  those  of 
any  living  Ferns.  He  would  refer  to  these  stems  many  of 
the  numerous  fern  leaves  of  unknown  species,  which  resem- 
ble those  of  existing  arborescent  genera  of  this  family. 
Lindley  and  Hutton  show  reasons  for  considering  that  Si- 
gillariae  were  Dicotyledonous  plants,  entirely  distinct  from 
Ferns,  and  different  from  any  thing  that  occurs  in  the  ex- 
isting system  of  vegetation.* 

Favularia.      Megaphyton.      Bothrodendron.     Ulodendron.f 

The  same  group  of  fossil  plants  to  which  Lindley  and 
Hutton  have  referred  the  genus  Sigillaria,  contains  four 
other  extinct  genera,  all  of  which  exhibit  a  similar  dis- 
position of  scales  arranged  in  vertical  rows,  and  indicating 
the  places  at  which  leaves,  or  cones,  were  attached  to 
the  trunk.     The  names  of  these  are  Favularia,  Megaphy- 


*  "There  can  be  no  doubt,"  say  they,  (Foss.  Flora,  vol.  i.  p.  155)  " that 
as  far  as  external  characters  go,  Sigillaria  approached  Euphorbiae  and 
Cacteae  more  nearly  than  any  other  plants  now  known,  particularly  in  its 
soft  texture,  in  its  deeply  channelled  stems,  and  what  is  of  more  consequence 
in  its  scars,  placed  in  perpendicular  rows  between  the  furrows.  It  is  also 
well  known  that  both  these  modern  tribes,  particularly  the  latter,  arrive 
even  now  at  great  stature  ;  farther,  it  is  extremely  probable,  indeed  almost 
certain,  that  Sigillaria  was  a  dicotyledonous  plant,  for  no  others  at  the  pre- 
sent day  have  a  true  separable  bark.  Nevertheless,  in  the  total  absence  of 
all  knowledge  of  the  leaves  and  flowers  of  these  ancient  trees,  we  think  it 
better  to  place  the  genus  among  other  species,  the  affinity  of  which  is  at 
present  doubtful." 

t  PI.  56,  Figs.  3.4.  5.  6.  7, 


LEAVES  AND  CONES  IN  VERTICAL  ROWS.  357 

ton,  Bothrodendron,  Ulodendron.*  Our  figures  PI.  56, 
Figs.  3,  4,  5,  6,  represent  portions  of  the  trunk  and  scars 
of  some  of  these  extraordinary  Coniferoe. 

Among  existing  vegetables,  there  are  only  a  few  succulent 
plants  v^^hich  present  a  similar  disposition  of  leaves,  one 
exactly  above  another  in  parallel  rows ;  but  in  the  fossil 
Flora  of  the  Coal  formation,  nearly  one-half,  out  of  eighty 
known  species  of  Arborescent  plants,  have  their  leaves 
growing  in  parallel  series.     The  remaining  half  are  Lepido- 


*  The  genera  composing  this  group  are  thus  described,  Foss,  Flora,  vol. 
ii.  p.  96. 

7.  Sigillaria.    Stem  furrowed.     Scars  of  leaves  small,  round,  much  nar- 
rower than  the  ridges  of  the  stem.     See  Pi.  56,  Figs.  1,  2,  2'. 

2.  Favularia.     Stem  furrowed.     Scars  of  leaves  small,  square,  as  broad  as 
the  ridges  of  the  stem.     See  PI.  56,  Fig.  7. 

3.  Megaphyton.     Stem  not  furrowed,  dotted.     Scars  of  leaves  very  large, 
of  a  horse-shoe  figure,  much  narrower  than  the  ridges. 

4.  Bothrodendron.  Stem  not  furrowed,  covered  with  dots.    Scars  of  cones, 
obliquely  oval. 

5.  Ulodendron.     Stem   not  furrowed,    covered  with   rJiomboidal   marks. 
Scars  of  cones  circular.     See  PI.  56,  Figs.  3,  4,5,  6,  6'. 

In  the  first  three  genera  of  this  group,  the  scars  appear  to  have  given 
origin  to  leaves;  in  the  latter  two  they  indicate  the  insertion  of  large  cones. 

In  the  genus  Favuluria  (PI.  56,  Fig.  7)  the  trunk  was  entirely  covered 
■with  a  mass  of  densely  imbricated  foliage,  the  bases  of  the  leaves  are  nearh' 
square,  and  the  rows  of  leaves  separated  by  intermediate  grooves  ;  whilst  in 
Sigillaria  the  leaves  were  placed  more  loosely,  and  at  various  intervals  in 
various  species.     (Foss.  Flora,  PI.  73.  74.  75.) 

In  the  genus  Megaphyton  the  stem  is  not  furrowed,  and  the  leaf  scars  arc 
very  large,  and  resemble  the  form  of  horse-shoes  disposed  in  two  vertical 
rows,  one  on  each  side  of  the  trunk.  The  minor  impressions  resembling 
horse-shoes,  in  the  middle  of  these  scars,  appear  to  indicate  the  figure  of  the 
woody  system  of  the  leafstalk.     (Foss.  Flora,  PI.  116,  117.) 

In  the  genus  Bothrodendron  (Foss.  Flora,  IM.  80,  81)  and  the  genus  Ulo- 
dendron, (Foss.  Flora,  PI.  5.  6.)  the  stems  arc  marked  with  deep  oval  or  cir- 
cular  concavities,  which  appear  to  have  been  made  by  the  bases  of  large 
cones.  These  cavities  are  ranged  in  two  vertical  rows,  on  opposite  sides 
of  the  trunk,  and  in  some  species  are  nearly  five  inches  in  diameter.  (PI. 
56.  Figs.  3.  4.  5.  6.) 


358  STIGMARIA. 

dendra,  or  extinct  Coniferae.     (See  Lindley  and  Hutton, 
Foss.  Flora,  vol.  ii.  p.  93.) 


Stigmaria.* 

The  recent  discoveries  of  Lindley  and  Hutton  have 
throM^n  much  light  upon  this  very  extraordinary  family  of 
extinct  fossil  plants.  Our  figure,  PI.  56,  Fig.  8,  copied  from 
their  engraving  of  Stigmaria  ficoides,  (Foss.  Flora,  PI.  31, 
Fig.  1)  represents  one  of  the  best  known  examples  of  the 
genus.f 

The  centre  of  the  plant  presents  a  dome-shaped  trunk  or 
stem,  three  or  four  feet  in  diameter,  the  substance  of  which 
was  probably  yielding  and  fleshy;  both  its  surfaces  were 
slightly  corrugated,  and  covered  with  indistinct  circular 
spots.     (PI.  56,  Figs.  8.  9.) 

From  the  margin  of  this  dome  there  proceed  many  hori- 
zontal branches,  varying  in  number  in  different  individuals 
from  nine  to  fifteen ;  some  of  these  branches  become  forked 
at  unequal  distances  from  the  dome ;  they  are  all  broken  oft' 
short,  the  longest  yet  found  attached  to  the  stem,  was  four 
feet  and  a  half  in  length.  The  extent  of  these  branches, 
when  outstreched  and  perfect,  was  probably  from  twenty 
to  thirty  feet.  J     The  surface  of  each  branch  is  covered  with 


»  PI.  56, Figs.  8.  9.  10.1]. 

t  Seventeen  specimens  of  this  kind  have  been  found  within  the  space  of 
600  square  yards,  in  the  shale  covering  the  Bensham  seam  of  coal  at  Jarrow 
Colliery  near  Newcastle,  at  the  depth  of  1200  feet. 

\  It  appears  from  sections  of  a  branch  of  Stigmaria,  engraved  by  Lindley 
and  Hutton,  (Foss.  Flora,  PI.  166,)  that  its  interior  was  a  hollow  cylinder 
composed  exclusively  of  spiral  vessels,  and  containing  a  thick  pith,  and  that 
the  transverse  section  exhibits  a  structure  something  like  that  of  Coniferae, 
but  without  concentric  circles,  and  with  open  spaces  instead  of  the  muriform 
tissue  of  medullary  rays.     No  such  structure  is  known  among  living  plants. 

These  cylindrical  branches  are  usually  depressed  on  one  side,  probably 
the  inferior  side  (PI,  56,  Figs.  8.  ab,  and  10.    b,;)  adjacent  to  this  depres'. 


A  GIGANTIC  FLOATING  PLANT.  359 

spirally  disposed  tubercles,  resembling  the  papillae  at  the 
base  of  the  spines  of  Echini.  From  each  tubercle  there 
proceeded  a  cylindrical  and  probably  succulent  leaf;  these 
extended  to  the  length  of  several  feet  from  all  sides  of  the 
branches.  (PI.  56,  Figs.  10.  11.)  The  leaves,  usually,  in  a 
compressed  state,  are  found  penetrating  in  all  directions  into 
the  sand-stone  or  shale  which  forms  the  surrounding  matrix ; 
they  have  been  traced  to  the  length  of  three  feet,  and  have 
fbeen  said  to  be  much  longer.* 

In  many  of  the  strata  that  accompany  the  coal,  fragments 
of  these  plants  occur  in  vast  abundance ;  they  have  been 
long  noticed  in  the  sand-stone  called  Gannister  and  Crow- 
stone,  in  the  Yorkshire  and  Derbyshire  coal  fields,  and  have 
been  incorrectly  considered  to  be  fragments  of  the  stems  of 
Cacti. 

The  discovery  of  the  dome-shaped  centres  above  de- 
scribed, and  the  length  and  forms  of  the  leaves  and  branches 
render  it  highly  probable  that  the  Stigmarise  were  aquatic 
plants,  trailing  in  swamps,  or  floating  in  still  and  shallow 
lakes,  like  the  modern  Stratiotes  and  Isoetes.  From  such 
situations  they  may  have  been  drifted  by  the  same  inunda- 
tions, that  transported  the  Ferns  and  other  land  vegetables, 
with  which  they  ai^e  associated  in  the  coal  formation.  The 
form  of  the  trunk  and  branches  shows  that  they  could  not 
have  risen  upwards  into  the  air ;  they  must  therefore  either 
have  trailed  on  the  ground,  or  have  floated  in  water. J     The 

sion  there  is  found  a  loose  internal  eccentric  axis,  or  woody  core  (PI.  56. 
Fig.  10.  a.)  surrounded  with  vascular  fasciculi  that  communicated  witii  the 
external  tubercles,  and  resembled  the  internal  axis  within  the  stems  of  cer- 
tain species  of  Cactus, 

*  All  these  are  conditions,  which  a  Plant  habitually  floating  with  the 
leaves  distended  in  every  direction,  would  not  cease  to  maintain,  when 
drifted  to  the  bottom  of  an  Estuary,  and  there  gradually  surrounded  by 
sediments  of  mud  and  silt. 

•j-  The  place  and  form  of  the  leaves,  supposing  them  to  have  grown  on 
all  sides  of  branches  suspended  horizontally  in  water,  would  have  been 
but  little  changed  by  being  drifted  into,  and  sinking  to  the  bottom  of,  an 


3G0  CONCLUSION. 

Stigmaria  was  probably  dicotyledonous,  and  in  its  internal 
structure  seems  to  have  borne  some  analogies  to  that  of  the 
Euphorbiacese. 

Conclusion. 

Besides  these  Genera  which  have  been  enumerated,  there 
are  many  others  whose  nature  is  still  more  obscure,  and  of 
which  no  traces  have  been  found  among  existing  vegeta- 
bles, nor  in  any  strata  more  recent  than  the  Carboniferous 
series.*  Many  years  must  elapse  before  the  character  of 
these  various  remains  of  the  primeval  vegetation  of  the 
Globe  can  be  folly  understood.  The  plants  which  have 
contributed  most  largely  to  the  highly-interesting  and  im- 
portant formation  of  Coal,  are  referable  principally  to  the 
Genera  whose  history  we  have  attempted  briefly  to  eluci- 
date :  viz.  Calamites,  Ferns,  Lycopodiacese,  Sigillarias,  and 
Stigmaria).  These  materials  have  been  collected  chiefly 
from  the  carboniferous  strata  of  Europe.  The  same  kind 
of  fossil  plants  are  found  in  the  coal  mines  of  N.  America, 
and  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  similar  remains  occur 
in  Coal  formations  of  the  same  Epoch,  under  very  different 
Latitudes,  and  in  very  distant  quarters  of  the  Globe,  e.  g.  in 
India,  and  New  Holland,  in  Melville  Island,  and  Baffin's 
Bay. 

The  most  striking  conclusions  to  which  the  present  state 
of  our  knowledge  has  led,  respecting  the  vegetables  which 
gave  origin  to  coal  arc,  1st,  that  a  large  proportion  of  these 
plants  were  vascular  Cryptogamia),  and  especially  Ferns; 

estuary  or  6ea,  and  there  becoming  surrounded  by  sediments  of  mud  or  sand. 
This  hypothesis  seems  supported  by  tiic  observations  made  at  Jarrow,  that 
the  extremities  of  tiic  branches  descend  from  tlie  dome  towards  the  adjacent 
bed  of  coal. 

*  Some  of  the  most  abundant  of  these  have  been  classed  under  tlie  names 
of  Asterophyllites,  (see  Pi.  1,  Figs.  4.  5,)  from  the  stellated  disposition  of  the 
leaves  around  the  branches. 


COMPLEX  HISTORY  OF  COAL.  361 

2dly,  that  among  these  Cryptogamic  plants,  the  Equisetaceae 
attained  a  gigantic  size ;  3dly,  that  Dicotyledonous  plants, 
which  compose  nearly  two-thirds  of  living  Vegetables, 
formed  but  a  small  proportion  of  the  Flora  of  these  early 
periods.*  4thly,  that  although  many  extinct  genera,  and 
certain  families  have  no  living  representatives,  and  even 

*  The  value  to  be  attached  to  numerical  proportions  of  fossil  Plants,  ia 
estimating  the  entire  condition  of  the  Flora  of  these  early  periods,  has  been 
diminished  by  the  result,  of  a  recent  interesting  experiment  made  by  Prof. 
Lindley,  on  the  durability  of  Plants  immersed  in  water.  (See  Fossil  Flora 
No.  xvii.  vol.  iii.  p.  4.)  Having  immersed  in  a  tank  of  fresh-water,  during 
more  than  two  years,  177  species  of  plants,  including  representatives  of  all 
those  which  are  either  constantly  present  in  the  coal  measures  or  universally 
absent,  he  found : 

1.  That  the  leaves  and  bark  of  most  dicotyledonous  Plants  are  wholly 
decomposed  in  two  years,  and  that  of  those  which  do  resist  it,  the  greater 
part  are  Conifera  and  CycadecR, 

2.  That  Monocotyledons  arc  more  capable  of  resisting  the  action  of  wate.'', 
particularly  Palms  and  Scitamincous  Plants ;  but  that  Grasses  and  Sedges 
perish. 

3.  That  Fungi,  Mosses,  and  all  the  lowest  forms  of  Vegetation  disappear. 

4.  That  Ferns  have  a  great  Power  of  resisting  water  if  gathered  in  a 
green  slate,  not  one  of  those  submitted  to  the  experiment  having  disappeared, 
but  that  ihcxT  fructification  perished. 

Although  the  results  of  this  experiment  in  some  degree  invalidate  the 
certainty  of  our  knowledge  of  the  entire  Flora  of  each  of  the  consecutive 
Periods  of  Geological  History,  it  does  not  affect  our  information  as  to  the 
number  of  the  enduring  Plants  which  have  contributed  to  make  up  the  Coal 
formation ;  nor  as  to  the  varying  proportions,  and  changes  in  the  species  of 
Ferns  and  other  plants,  in  the  successive  systems  of  vegetation  that  have 
clothed  our  globe. 

It  may  be  farther  noticed,  that  as  both  trunks  and  leaves  of  Angicspermous 
dicotyledonous  Plants  have  been  preserved  abundantly  in  the  Tertiary  for- 
mations, there  appears  to  be  no  reason  why,  if  Plants  of  tUs  Tribe  had 
existed  during  the  Secondary  and  Transition  Periods,  they  piould  not  also 
occasionally  have  escaped  destruction  in  the  sedimentary  (bposites  of  these 
earlier  epochs. 

In  Loudon's  Mag.  Nat.  Hist.  Jan,  1834,  p.  34,  is  ««  account  of  some 
interesting  experiments  by  Mr.  Lukis,  on  successivr  changes  in  the  form 
of  the  cortical  and  internal  parts  of  the  stems  o*"  succulent  plants,  (e.  g. 
Sempervivum  arboreum)  during  various  stages  ot  decay,  which  may  illus- 
trate  analogous  appearances  in  many  fossil  plarxis  of  the  coal  formation. 

VOL.  I. — 31 


362  STAGES  IN  THE  PRODUCTION  OF  COAL. 

ceased  to  exist  after  the  deposition  of  the  Coal  formatioi?, 
yet  are  they  connected  with  modern  vegetables  by  common 
principles  of  structure,  and  by  details  of  organization,  which 
show  them  all  to  be  parts  of  One  grand,  and  consistent,  and 
harmonious  Design. 

We  may  end  our  account  of  the  Plants  to  which  we  have 
traced  the  origin  of  Coal,  with  a  summary  view  of  the 
various  Natural  changes,  and  processes  in  Art  and  Industry, 
through  which  we  can  follow  the  progress  of  this  curious 
and  most  important  vegetable  production. 

Few  persons  are  aware  of  the  remote  and  wonderful 
Events  in  the  economy  of  our  Planet,  and  of  the  compli- 
cated applications  of  human  Industry  and  Science,  which 
are  involved  in  the  production  of  the  Coal  that  supplies  with 
fuel  the  Metropolis  of  England.     The  most  early  stage  to 
which   we   can    carry   back   its   origin,   was   among   the 
swamps  and  forests  of  the  primeval  earth,  where  it  flou- 
rished in  the  form  of  gigantic  Calamites,  and  stately  Lepi- 
dodendra,  and  Sigillarias.     From  their   native  bed,  these 
plants  were  torn  away,  by  the  storms  and  inundations  of  a 
hot  and  humid  climate,  and  transported  in  some  adjacent 
Lake,   or   Estuary,   or    Sea.      Here   they  floated   on   the 
waters,  until  they  sank  saturated  to  the  bottom,  and  being 
buried  in  the  detritus  of  adjacent  lands,  became  transferred 
to  a  new  estate  among  the  members  of  the  mineral  king- 
dom.    A  long  interment  followed,  during  which  a  course 
of  Chemical  changes,  and  new  combinations  of  their  vege- 
table elements,  have  converted  them  to  the  mineral  condi- 
tion of  Coal.     By  the  elevating  force  of  subterranean  Fires, 
these  beds  of  Coal  have  been  uplifted  from  beneath  the 
waters,  to  a  new  position  in  the  hills  and  mountains,  where 
they  are  accessible  to  the   industry  of  man.     From  this 
fourth  stage  in  its  adventures,  our  Coal  has  again  been 
moved  by  the  labours  of  the  miner,  assisted  by  the  Arts 
and  Sciences,  that  rave  co-operated  to  produce  the  Steam 
Engine  and  the  Safety  Lamp.     Returned  once  more  to  the 


FOSSIL  CONIFERS.  363 

light  of  day,  and  a  second  time  committed  to  the  waters, 
it  has,  by  the  aid  of  navigation,  been  conveyed  to  the  scene 
of  its  next  and  most  considerable  change  by  fire ;  a  change 
during  which  it  becomes  subservient  to  the  most  important 
wants  and  conveniences  of  Man.  In  this  seventh  stage  of 
its  long  eventful  history,  it  seems  to  the  vulgar  eye  to  un- 
dergo annihilation ;  its  Elements  are  indeed  released  from 
the  mineral  combinations  they  have  maintained  for  ages, 
but  their  apparent  destruction  is  only  the  commencement 
of  new  successions  of  change  and  of  activity.  Set  free 
from  their  long  imprisonment,  they  return  to  their  native 
Atmosphere,  from  which  they  were  absorbed  to  take  part 
in  the  primeval  vegetation  of  the  Earth.  To-morrow,  they 
may  contribute  to  the  substance  of  timber,  in  the  Trees  of 
our  existing  forests ;  and  having  for  a  while  resumed  their 
place  in  the  living  vegetable  kingdom,  may,  ere  long  be  ap- 
plied a  second  time  to  the  use  and  benefit  of  man.  And 
when  decay  or  fire  shall  once  more  consign  them  to  the 
earth,  or  to  the  atmosphere,  the  same  Elements  will  enter 
on  some  farther  department,  of  their  perpetual  ministration, 
in  the  economy  of  the  material  world. 


Fossil  ConifercB.* 

The  Coniferse  form  a  large  and  very  important  tribe 
among  living  plants,  which  are  characterized,  not  only  by 
peculiarities  in  their  fructification  (as  Gymnospermous  pha- 
ncrogamicsif)  but  also  by  certain  remarkable  arrangements 

*  See  PL  1.  Figs.  1.  31.  32.  69. 

t  We  owe  to  Mr.  Brown,  the  important  discover)',  that  Coniferae  and  Cy- 
cadese  are  the  only  two  families  of  plants  that  have  their  seeds  originally 
naked,  and  not  enclosed  within  an  Ovary.  (See  Appendix  to  Captain  King's 
Voyage  to  Australia.)  They  have  for  this  reason  been  arranged  in  a 
distinct  order,  as  Gymnosjpermous  PhanerogainicB.  This  peculiarity  in  the 
Ovulum  is  accompanied  throughout  both  these  families,  by  peculiarities  in 
the  internal  structure  of  their  stems,  in  which  they  differ  from  almost  all 
dicotyledonous  plants,  and  in  some  respects  also  from  each  other. 


364  FOSSIL  CONIFERS. 

in  the  structure  of  their  wood,  whereby  the  smallest  frag- 
ment may  be  identified. 

Recent  microscopic  examinations  of  fossil  woods  have 
led  to  the  recognition  of  an  internal  structure,  resembling 
that  of  existing  Coniferse,  in  the  trunks  of  large  trees,  both 
in  the  Carboniferous  series,*  and  throughout  the  Secondary 
formations  ;f  and  M.  Ad.  Brongniart  has  enumerated  twenty 
species  of  fossil  Coniferas  in  strata  of  the  Tertiary  series. 
Many  of  these  last  approach  more  closely  to  existing  Genera 
than  those  in  the  Secondary  strata,  and  some  are  referable 
1o  them. 

It  has  been  farther  shown  by  Nicol,  (Edin.  New  Phil. 
Journal,  January,  1834)  that  some  of  the  most  ancient  fossil 
Coniferse  may  be  referred  to  the  existing  genus  Pinus,  and 
others  to  that  of  Araucaria;  the  latter  of  these  compre- 
hends some  of  the  tallest  among  Hving  trees,  (See  PI.  1,  Fig. 

The  recognition  of  tlicse  peculiar  characters  in  the  structure  of  the 
stem,  is  especially  important  to  the  Geological  Botanist,  because  the  stems 
of  plants  are  often  the  only  parts  which  are  found  preserved  in  a  fossil 
state, 

*  The  occurrence  of  large  coniferous  trees  in  strata  of  the  great  Coal 
formation,  was  first  announced  in  Mr.  Witham's  Fossil  Vegetables,  1831. 
It  was  here  stated  that  the  higher  and  more  complex  organizations  of  Coni- 
ferse exists  in  the  Coal  fields  of  Edinburgh  and  Newcastle,  in  strata  which 
till  lately  have  been  supposed  to  contain  only  the  simpler  forms  of  vegetable 
structure. 

t  In  the  lower  region  of  the  Secondary  strata,  M.  Ad.  Brongniart  has 
enumerated,  among  the  fossil  plants  of  the  New  red  sand-stone  of  the 
Vosges,  four  species  of  Voltzia,  a  new  genus  of  Coniferse,  having  near 
affinities  to  the  Araucaria  and  Cunninghamia.  Branches,  leaves,  and 
cones  of  this  genus  are  most  abundant  at  Sultz  les  Bains,  near  Stras- 
burgh. 

Mr.  Witham  reckons  eight  species  of  Coniferse  among  the  fossil  woods  of 
the  Lias ;  and  five  species,  of  which  four  are  allied  to  the  existing  genus 
Thuia,  occur  in  the  Oolite  formation  of  Stonesfield.  (See  Ad.  Brongniart's 
Prod.  p.  200.)  For  figures  of  Cones  from  the  Lias  and  Greensand  near  Lyme 
Regis,  and  the  Inferior  oolite  of  Northamptonshire,  see  Lindly  and  Hutton's 
Fossil  Flora,  Plates  89,  135,  137. 

Dr.  Fitton  has  described  and  figured  two  very  beautiful  and  perfect  cones, 
one  from  Purbeck  ?  and  one  from  the  Hastings  sand.  Geol.  Trans.  2d,  Se* 
ries.  Vol.  iv.  PI.  22,  Figs.  'J,  10,  p.  181  and  230. 


ARAUCARIA  AND  PINUS  IN  COAL  FORMATION.  365 

1)  and  is  best  known  in  the  Araucaria  excelsa,  or  Norfolk 
Island  Pine. 

These  discoveries  are  highly  important,  as  they  afford 
examples  among  the  earliest  remains  of  vegetable  life,  of 
identity  in  minute  details  of  internal  organization,  between 
the  most  ancient  trees  of  the  primeval  forests  of  our  globe, 
and  some  of  the  largest  living  Coniferas.* 

The  structure  of  Araucarias  alone  has  been  as  yet  iden- 

•  The  transverse  section  of  any  coniferous  wood  in  addition  to  the 
radiating  and  concentric  lines  represented  PI.  56a,  Fig.  7,  exhibits  under 
the  microscope  a  system  of  reticulations  by  which  conifers  are  distin- 
guishable from  other  plants.  The  form  of  these  reticulations  magnified 
400  times  is  given  in  Pi.  56a,  Figs.  2,  4,  6.  These  apertures  are  trans- 
verse sections  of  the  same  vessels,  which  are  seen  in  a  longitudinal  sec- 
tion at  Pi.  56a;  Fig.  8,  cut  from  the  centre  towards  the  bark,  and  parallel 
to  the  medullary  rays.  These  vessels  exhibit  a  characteristic  and  beauti- 
ful structure,  whereby  a  distinction  is  marked  between  the  true  Pines 
and  Araucarias.  In  such  a  section  the  small  and  uniform  longitudinal 
vessels,  (PI.  56a,  Fig.  8)  which  constitute  the  woody  fibre,  present  at  in- 
tervals a  remarkable  appearance  of  small,  nearly  circular  figures  disposed 
in  vertical  rows  (See  Pi.  56a,  Figs.  1,  3,  5.)  These  objects  under  the 
name  of  glands  or  discs,  are  differently  arranged  in  different  species;  they 
are  generally  circulai',  but  sometimes  elliptical,  and  when  near  each  other, 
become  angular.  Each  of  these  discs  has  near  its  centre  a  smaller  circular 
areola.  PI.  56a,  Fig.  1,  represents  their  appearance  in  the  Pinus  strobus  of 
North  America. 

In  some  Conifers,  the  discs  are  in  single  rows;  in  others,  in  double  as  well 
as  single  rows,  e.  g.  in  Pinus  strobus,  PI.  56a,  Fig.  1. 

Throughout  the  entire  ganus  of  the  living  Pines,  when  double  rows  of 
discs  occur  in  one  vessel,  the  discs  of  both  rows  are  placed  side  by  side, 
and  never  alternate,  and  the  number  of  the  rows  of  discs  is  never  more  than 
two. 

In  the  Araucarias  the  groups  of  discs  are  an-anged  in  single,  double, 
triple  and  sometimes  quadruple  rows,  see  Pi.  56,  Fig,  3.  5.  They  are  much 
smaller  than  those  in  the  true  Pines,  scarcely  half  their  size,  and  in  the  double 
rows  they  always  alternate  with  each  other,  and  are  sometimes  circular,  but 
mostly  polygonal.  Mr.  Nicol  has  counted  a  row  of  not  less  than  fifty  discs 
in  a  length  the  twentieth  part  of  an  inch,  the  diameter  of  each  disc  not  ex- 
ceeding the  thousandth  part  of  an  inch;  but  even  the  smallest  of  these  are  of 
enormous  size,  when  compared  with  the  fibres  of  the  partitions  bounding 
the  vessels  in  which  they  occur. 

31* 


366  PINUS  AND  ARAUCARIA  IN  LIAS. 

tified  in  trees  from  the  Carboniferous  series  of  Britain.*  That 
of  ordinary  Pines  occurs  in  wood  from  the  Coal  formation 
of  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Holland. 

The  same  ordinary  structure  of  Pines  predominates  in  the 
fossil  wood  of  the  Lias  at  Whitby ;  trunks  of  Araucarias 
also  are  found  there  in  the  same  Lias ;  and  branches,  with 
the  leaves  still  adhering  to  them,  in  the  Lias  at  Lyme  Regis.f 

Professor  Lindley  justly  remarks  that  it  is  an  important 
fact,  that  at  the  period  of  the  deposite  of  the  Lias,  the  vege- 
tation was  similar  to  that  of  the  (Southern  Hemisphere,  not 
alone  in  the  single  fact  of  the  presence  of  Cycadese,  but  that 
the  Pines  were  also  of  the  nature  of  species  now  found  only 
to  the  south  of  the  Equator.  Of  the  four  recent  species  of 
Araucaria  at  present  known,  one  is  found  on  the  east  coast 
of  New  Holland,  another  in  Norfolk  Island,  a  third  in  Brazil, 
and  the  fourth  in  Chili.     (Foss.  Flora,  vol.  ii.  p.  2L) 

Whatever  result  may  follow  from  future  investigations, 
our  present  information  shows  that  the  largest  and  most 
perfect  fossil  Coniferae,  which  have  been  as  yet  sufficiently 
examined  from  the  Coal  formation  and  the  Lias,  are  refera- 
ble either  to  the  genus  Pinus,  or  Araucaria,J  and  that  both 

*  A  trunk  of  Araucarias  forty-seven  feet  long  was  found  in  Cragleitli 
Quarry  near  Edinburgh,  1830.  (See  Witham's  Fossil  Vegetables,  1833, 
PI.  5.)  Another,  three  feet  in  diameter,  and  more  tlian  twenty-four  feet 
long,  was  discovered  in  the  same  quarries  in  1833.  (See  Nicol  on  Fossil 
Couiferae,  Edin.  New  Phil.  Journal,  Jan,  1834.)  The  longitudinal  sec- 
tions of  this  Tree  exhibit,  like  the  recent  Araucaria  excelsa,  small  poly- 
gonal discs,  arranged  m  double,  and  triple  quadruple  rows  within  the 
longitudinal  vessels;  so  also  does  a  similar  section  from  the  Coal-field  of 
New-Holland. 

t  See  Lindley  and  Hutton's  Fossil  Flora,  Pi.  88.  A  fossil  cone  referable 
to  Coniferse,  and  possibly  to  the  genus  Araucaria,  from  tlie  Lias  of  Lyme 
Eegis,  is  represented  at  Plate  89  of  the  same  work. 

t  Mr,  Nicol  states  that  in  fossil  woods  from  tlie  Whitby  Lias,  when 
concentric  layers  are  distinctly  marked  on  their  transverse  section,  (PI. 
56a,  Fig.  2,  a,  a)  the  longitudinal  sections  have  also  the  structure  of 
pinus  (Pi.  56a,  Fig.  1.;)  but  when  the  transverse  section  exhibits  no  dis- 
tinct  annual  layers,  (Pi.  56a,  Fig.  4.)  or  has  them  but  slightly  indicated* 


CONIFERS  IN  THE  SECONDARY  SERIES.  367 

these  modifications  of  the  existing  Family  of  Coniferas  date 
their  commencement  from  that  very  ancient  period,  when 
the  Carboniferous  strata  of  the  Transition  formation  were 
deposited. 

Fragments  of  trunks  of  Coniferous  wood,  and  occasion- 
ally leaves  and  cones  occur  through  all  stages  of  the  Oolite 
formation,  from  the  Lias  to  the  Portland  stone.  On  the  up- 
per surface  of  the  Portland  stone,  we  find  the  remains  of  an 
ancient  forest,  in  which  are  preserved  large  prostrate  silici- 
fied  stumps  of  Coniferas,  having  their  roots  still  fixed  in  the 
black  vegetable  mould  in  which  they  grew.  Fragments  of 
coniferous  wood  are  also  frequent  throughout  the  Wealden 
and  Greensand  formations,  and  occur  occasionally  in 
Chalk.* 

It  appears  that  the  Coniferae  are  common  to  fossiliferous 
strata  of  all  periods ;  they  are  least  abundant  in  the  Transi- 
tion series,  more  numerous  in  the  Secondary,  and  most  fre- 
quent in  the  Tertiary  series.  Hence  we  learn  that  there  has 
been  no  time  since  the  commencement  of  terrestrial  veseta- 
tion  on  the  surface  of  our  Globe,  in  which  large  Coniferous 
trees  did  not  exist ;  but  our  present  evidence  is  insufficient, 
to  ascertain  with  accuracy  the  proportions  they  bore  to  the 

(PI.  56a.  Fig.  6.  a)  the  longitudinal  section  has  the  characters  of  Araucaria. 
(PI.  56a.  Fig.  3,  5.)  So  also  those  Coniferse  of  the  great  Coal  formation  of 
Edinburgh  and  Newcastle,  which  exhibit  the  structure  of  Araucaria  in 
tlieir  longitudinal  section,  have  no  distinct  concentric  layers  ;  whilst  in  the 
fossil  Coniferas  from  the  New  Holland  and  Nova  Scotia  Coalfield,  both  lon- 
gitudinal and  transverse  sections  agree  with  those  of  the  recent  tribe  of 
Pinus. 

Mr.  Witham  also  observes  that  the  Coniferae  of  the  Coal  formation,  and 
mountain  limestone  group,  have  few  and  slight  appearances  of  the  con- 
centric lines,  by  which  the  annual  layers  of  the  wood  are  separated,  which 
is  also  frequently  the  case  with  the  Trees  of  our  present  tropical  re- 
gions, and  from  this  circumstance  conjectures  that,  at  the  epochs  of  these 
formations,  the  changes  of  season,  as  to  temperature  at  least  were  not 
abrupt. 

*  There  is  in  the  Oxford  Museum  a  fragment  of  silicified  coniferous  wood, 
perforated  by  Teredines,  found  by  Rev,  Dr.  Faussett,  in  a  chalk  flint  at  Lower 
liardrcs,  near  Canterburv. 


368  FLOKA  OF  THE  SECONDARY  SERIES. 

relative  numbers  of  other  families  of  plants,  in  each  of  the 
successive  geological  epochs,  which  are  thus  connected  with 
our  own,  by  a  new  and  beautiful  series  of  links,  derived  from 
one  of  the  most  important  tribes  of  the  vegetable  kingdom. 


SECTION  III. 

VEGETABLES  IN  STRATA  OF  THE  SECONDARY  SERIES."^ 

Fossil  Cycadece. 

The  Flora  of  the  Secondary  Seriesf  presents  characters^ 
of  an  intermediate  kind  between  the  Insular  vegetation  of 
the  Transition  series,  and  the  Continental  Flora  of  the  Ter- 
tiary formations.  Its  predominating  feature  consists  in  the 
abundant  presence  of  Cycadeee,  (see  PI.  1,  Figs.  33,  34,  35,) 
together  with  Coniferee,^  and  Ferns.§  (See  PI.  1,  Figs.  37, 
38,  39.) 

M.  Ad.  Brongniart  enumerates  about  seventy  species  of 

*  See  P).  1,  Figs.  31  to  39. 

+  M.  Ad.  Brongniart,  in  his  arrangement  of  fossil  plants,  has  formed  a 
distinct  group  out  of  the  few  species  which  have  been  found  in  tlie  Red- 
sandstone  formation  (Gres  bigarre)  immediately  above  the  Coal.  In  our 
division  of  the  strata,  this  Red-sandstone  is  included,  as  an  inferior  mem- 
ber, in  the  Secondary  series.  Five  Algffi,  three  Calamites,  five  Ferns,  and 
five  Coniferae,  two  Liliacese,  and  tliree  uncertain  Monocotyledonous  plants 
form  the  entire  amount  of  species  which  he  enumerates  in  this  small 
Flora. 

See  also  JiBger  ober  die  Pflanzenversteinerungcn  in  dem  Bausandstcin  von 
Stuttgart,  1827. 

t  We  again  refer  to  Witham's  Account  of  Conifers  from  the  Lias,  in  his 
observations  on  Fossil  Vegetables,  1833. 

§  A  very  interesting  account,  accompanied  by  figures,  showing  the  in- 
ternal structure  of  the  stems  of  fossil  arborescent  Ferns  of  the  Secondary 
period,  is  given  in  Cotta's  Dendrolithcn,  Dresden,  1832  ;  these  appear  to  be 
chiefly  from  the  New  red  sand-stone  of  Clicmnitz  near  Dresden. 


HABIT  AND  STRUCTURE  OF  CYCaDE^.  369 

land  plants  in  the  Secondary  formations,  (from  the  Keuper 
to  the  Chalk  inclusive  ;)  one  half  of  these  are  Coniferse  and 
Cycadas,  and  of  this  half,  twenty-nine  are  Cycadese;  the 
remaining  half  are  chiefly  vascular  Cryptogamise,  viz.  Ferns, 
Equisetaceffi,  and  Lycopodiacese.  In  our  actual  vegetation, 
Coniferse  and  Cycadeae  scarcely  compose  a  three  hundreth 
part.* 

The  family  of  Cycadese  comprehends  only  two  living 
Genera;  viz.  Cycas,  (PL  58.)  and  Zamia.  (PI.  59.)  There 
are  five  known  living  Species  of  Cycas  and  about  seventeen 
of  Zamia.  Not  a  single  species  of  the  Cycadeae  grows  at  the 
present  time  in  Europe:  their  principal  localities  are  parts 
of  equinoctial  America,  the  West  Indies,  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  Madagascar,  India,  the  Molucca  Islands,  Japan, 
China,  and  New  Holland. 

Four  or  five  genera,  and  twenty-nine  species  of  Cycadeas, 
occur  in  the  fossil  Flora  of  the  Secondary  period,  but 
remains  of  this  family  are  very  rare  in  strata  of  the  Transi- 
tion, and  Tertiary  series.f 


*  The  fossil  vegetables  in  the  Secondary  series,  although  they  present 
many  kinds  of  Lignite,  very  rarely  form  beds  of  valuable  Coal.  The  imper- 
fect coal  of  the  Cleaveland  Moorlands  near  Whitby,  and  of  Brora  in  Sutherland, 
belong  to  the  inferior  region  of  the  Oolite  formation.  The  bituminous  coal 
of  Buckeberg  near  Minden,  in  Westphalia,  is  in  the  Wealden  formation. 

The  coal  of  Hoer  in  Scania  is  either  in  the  Wealden  formation,  or  in  the 
Green-sand  (Ann.  des  Sciences  Nat.  torn.  iv.  p.  200.) 

t  I  learn  by  letter  from  Count  Sternberg,  (Aug.  1835.)  that  he  has  found 
Cycadese  and  Zamites  in  the  Coal  formation  of  Bohemia,  of  which  he  will 
publish  figures  in  the  7th  and  8th  Cahier  of  his  Flore  du  Monde  primitif. 
This  is,  I  believe,  the  first  example  of  the  recognition  of  plants  of  this 
family  in  strata  of  the  Carboniferous  series. 

During  a  recent  visit  to  the  extensive  and  admirably  arranged  geological 
collection  in  the  Museum  at  Strasbourg,  I  was  informed  by  M.  Voltz  that 
the  stern  of  a  Cycadites  in  that  museum,  described  ,  by  M.  Ad.  Brongniart, 
as  a  Mantellia,  from  the  Muschelkalk  of  Luneville,  is  derived  from  the  Lias 
near  that  Town.  M.  Voltz  knows  no  example  'of  any  Cycadites  from  the 
Muschelkalk.  Stems  and  leaves  of  Cycadese  occur  also  in  the  Lias  at  Lyme 
Regis.    (Lind.  Foss.  Fl.  Fl.  143.) 


370  INTERMEDIATE  CHARACTER  OF  CYCADEiE. 

The  Cycadese  form  a  beautiful  family  of  plants  whose 
external  habit  resembles  that  of  Palms,  whilst  their  internal 
structure  approximates  in  several  essential  characters  to  that 
of  Coniferae.  In  a  third  respect,  (viz.  the  Gyrate  Vernation, 
or  mode  in  which  the  leaves  are  curled  up  at  their  points, 
within  the  buds,)  they  resemble  Ferns.  (See  PI.  1.  F.  33,. 
34,  35,  and  PL  58,  59.) 

I  shall  select  the  family  of  Cycadeae  from  the  fossil  Flora 
of  the  Secondary  period,  and  shall  enter  into  some  details 
respecting  its  organization,  with  a  view  of  showing  an 
example  of  the  method  of  analysis,  by  which  Geologists  are 
enabled  to  arrive  at  information  as  to  the  structure  and 
economy  of  extinct  species  of  fossil  vegetables,  and  of  the 
importance  of  the  conclusions  they  are  enabled  to  establish. 
Those  who  have  attended  to  the  recent  progress  of  vegeta- 
ble Physiology  will  duly  appreciate  the  value  of  microscopic 
investigations,  which  enable  us  to  identify  the  structure  of 
vegetables  of  such  remote  antiquity,  with  that  which  pre- 
vails in  the  organization  of  living  species. 

The  physiological  discoveries  that  have  lately  been  made 
with  respect  to  living  species  of  Cycadeae,  have  shown 
them  to  occupy  an  intermediate  place  between  Palms^ 
Ferns,  and  Coniferac,  to  each  of  which  they  bear  certain 
points  of  resemblance ;  and  hence  a  peculiar  interest  attends 


The  most  abundant  deposit  of  fossil  leaves  of  Cycadese  in  England,  is  in 
the  Oolitic  formation  on  the  coast  of  Yorkshire,  between  Whitby  and  Scar- 
borough, (See  Phillips'  Illustration  of  the  Geology  of  Yorkshire.)  Leaves  of 
this  family  occur  also  in  the  Oolitic  slate  of  Stonesfield.  Lindley  and  Hut- 
ton,  Foss.  Flora,  PI.  172,  175, 

In  Lindlcy  and  Hutton's  Fossil  Flora,  PI.  136,  Figures  are  given  of  Cones 
which  he  refers  to  the  genus  Zaniia,  from  tlic  sand-stone  of  the  Wcaldcn 
formation  at  Yaverland  on  the  South  coast  of  the  I.  of  Wight. 

M.  Ad.  Brongniart  has  established  a  new  fossil  genus  Nilsonia,  in  the 
family  of  Cycadca),  which  occurs  at  Hoer  in  Scania,  in  strata,  either  of  the 
Wealden  or  Grccn-sand  formation ;  and  another  genus,  Pterophyllum, 
which  is  found  from  the  New  red  sand-stone  upwards  to  the  Wealden  for-- 
mation. 


FOSSIL  CYCADE^  IN  DORSETSHIRE.  371 

the  recognition  of  similar  structures  in  fossil  plants,  refera- 
ble to  a  family  whose  characters  are  so  remarkable. 

The  figure  of  a  Cycas  revoluta  (PL  58,*)  represents  the 
form  and  habit  of  plants  belonging  to  this  beautiful  genus. 
In  the  magnificent  crown  of  graceful  foliage  surrounding 
the  summit  of  a  simple  cylindrical  trunk,  it  resembles  a 
Palm.  The  trunk  in  the  genus  Cycas,  is  usually  long.  That 
of  C.  circinalis  rises  to  30  feet.f  In  the  genus  Zamia  it  is 
commonly  short. 

Our  figure  of  a  Zamia  pungens,J  (PI.  59,)  shows  the  mode 
of  inflorescence  in  this  Genus,  by  a  single  cone,  rising  like 
a  Pine  Apple,  deprived  of  its  foliaceous  top,  from  within  the 
crown  of  leaves  at  the  summit  of  the  stem. 

The  trunk  of  the  Cycadeje  has  no  true  bark,  but  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  dense  case,  composed  of  persistent  scales 
which  have  formed  the  basis  of  fallen  leaves ;  these,  to- 
gether with  other  abortive  scales,  constitute  a  compact 
covering  that  supplies  the  place  of  bark.  (See  PI.  58  and  59.) 
In  the  Geol.  Trans,  of  London  (vol.  iv.  part  1.  New 
Series)  I  have  published,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  De  la 
Beche,  an  account  of  the  circumstances  under  which  silici- 
fied  fossil  trunks  of  Cycadeai  are  found  in  the  Isle  of  Port- 
land, immediately  above  the  surface  of  the  Portland  stone, 
and  below  the  Purbeck  stone.  They  are  lodged  in  the 
same  beds  of  black  mould  in  which  they  grew,  and  are 
accompanied  by  prostrate  trunks  of  large  coniferous  trees, 
converted  to  flint,  and  by  stumps  of  these  trees  standing 
erect  with  their  roots  still  fixed  in  their  native  soil.  (See 
PI.  57,  Fig.  l.§) 

*  Drawn  from  a  Plant  in  Lord  Grenville's  Conservatory  at  Dropinore,  in 
1832. 

t  In  Curtis's  Botanical  Magazine,  1828,  PI.  2826,  Dr.  Hooker  has  pub- 
lished an  Engraving  of  a  Cycas  circinalis  which  in  1827  flowered  in  the  Bo- 
tanic Garden  at  Edinburgh.     See  PI.  1.  Fig.  33. 

t  Copied  from  an  engraving  published  by  Mr.  Lambert,  of  a  plant  that 
bore  fruit  at  Walton  on  Thames  in  the  conservatory  of  Lady  Tankerviile, 
1832. 

§  Thg  sketch,  PI.  57,  Fig,  2,  represents  a  triple  series  of  circular  undula. 


372  ANCIENT   SUBMERGED  FOREST. 

PI.  57,  Fig.  3,  exhibits  similar  stumps  of  trees  rooted  in 
their  native  mould,  in  the  Cliff  immediately  east  of  Lulworth 
Cove.  Here  the  strata  have  been  elevated  nearly  to  a  angle 
of  45*^,  and  the  stumps  still  retain  the  unnatural  inclination 
into  vv^hich  they  have  been  thrown  by  this  elevation. 

The  facts  represented  in  these  three  last  figures  are  fully 
described  and  explained  in  the  paper  above  referred  to; 
they  prove  that  plants  belonging  to  a  family  that  is  now  con- 
fined to  the  warmer  regions  of  the  earth,  were  at  a  former 
period,  natives  of  the  southern  coast  of  England.* 

As  no  leaves  have  yet  been  found  with  the  fossil  Cycadeae 
under  consideration,  we  are  limited  to  the  structure  of  their 

tions,  marked  in  the  stone,  which  surrounds  a  single  stump,  rooted  in  the 
dirt-bed  in  the  Isle  of  Portland.  This  very  curious  disposition  has  apparently 
resulted  from  undulations,  produced  by  winds,  blowing  at  different  times  in 
different  directions  on  the  surface  of  the  shallow  fresh-water,  from  the  sedi- 
ments of  which  the  matter  of  this  stratum  was  supplied,  while  the  top  of 
this  stem  stood  above  the  surface  of  the  water.  See  Geol.  Trans.  Lond.  N. 
S.  vol.  iv.  p.  17. 

*  The  structure  of  this  district  affords  also  a  good  example  of  the  proofs 
which  Geology  discloses,  of  alternate  elevations  and  submersions  of  the 
strata,  sometimes  gradually,  and  sometimes  violently,  during  the  formation 
of  the  crust  of  our  planet. 

First.  We  have  evidence  of  the  rise  of  the  Portland  stone,  till  it  reached 
the  surface  of  the  sea  wherein  it  was  formed. 

Secondly,  This  surface  became  for  a  time,  dry  land,  covered  by  a  tempo- 
rary forest,  during  an  interval  which  is  indicated  by  the  thickness  of  a  bed 
of  black  mould,  called  the  Dirt-bed,  and  by  the  rings  of  annual  growth 
in  large  petrified  trunks  of  prostrate  trees,  whose  roots  had  grown  in  this 
mould. 

Thirdly,  We  find  this  forest  to  have  been  gradually  submerged,  first  be- 
neath the  waters  of  a  fresh-water  lake,  next  of  an  estuary,  and  afterwards 
beneath  those  of  a  deep  sea,  in  which  Cretaceous  and  Tertiary  strata  were 
deposited,  more  than  2000  feet  in  thickness. 

Fourthly,  The  whole  of  these  strata  have  been  elevated  by  subterranean 
violence,  into  their  actual  position  in  the  hills  of  Dorsetshire. 

We  arrive  at  similar  conclusions,  as  to  the  alternate  elevation  and  depres- 
sions of  the  surface  of  tiie  earth,  from  the  erect  position  of  the  stems  of  Ca- 
lamites,  in  sand-stone  of  the  lower  Oolite  formation  on  the  eastern  coast  of 
Yorkshire.  (See  JVIurchison.  Proceedings  of  Geol.  Society  of  London,  vol. 
i.  p.  391.) 


IMTERNAL  STRCTURE  OF  TRUNKS.  373 

trunk  and  scales,  in  our  search  for  their  distinguishing  cha- 
racters. 

I  have  elsewhere  (Geol.  Trans.  London,  N.  S.  vol.  ii.  part 
iii.  1828)  instituted  a  comparison  between  the  internal  struc- 
ture of  two  species  of  these  fossil  trunks,  and  that  of  the 
trunks  of  a  recent  Zamia  and  recent  Cycas.* 

I  must  refer  to  the  memoir,  in  which  these  sections  are 
described,  for  specific  details  as  to  the  varied  proportions 
and  numerical  distribution  of  these  concentric  circles  of 
laminated  wood  and  cellular  tissue,  in  the  trunks  of  living 
and  fossil  species  of  Cycadese.f 

*  M.  Ad.  Brongniart  has  referred  these  two  fossil  species  to  a  new  genus, 
by  the  name  of  Mantellia  nidiformis  and  Mantellia  cylindrica;  in  my  paper 
just  quoted,  I  applied  to  them  the  provisional  name  of  Cycadeoidea  megalo- 
phylla  and  Cydadeoidea  microphylla;  but  Mr.  Brown  is  of  opinion,  that 
until  sufficient  reasons  are  assigned  for  separating  them  from  the  genus 
Cycas  or  Zaraia,  the  provisional  name  of  Cycadites  is  more  appropriate,  as 
expressing  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge  upon  this  subject.  The  name 
Mantellia  is  already  applied  by  Parkinson  (Introduction  to  Fossil  Org. 
Rem.  p.  53)  to  a  genus  of  Zoophytes,  which  is  figured  in  Goldfuss,  T.  vi.  p. 
14. 

t  Plates  60,  Fig.  1,  and  Gl,  Fig.  1,  represent  very  perfect  specimens  of 
fossil  Cycadites  from  Portland,  now  in  the  Oxford  Museum;  both  having 
the  important  character  of  Buds  protruding  from  the  Axillae  of  the  leaf 
stalks. 

The  section  given  in  PI.  59,  Fig.  2,  of  the  trunk  of  a  recent  Zamia  hor- 
rida,  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  displays  a  structure  similar  to  that  in 
the  section  of  the  fossil  Cycadites  megalophyllus  from  the  Isle  of  Portland ; 
(PI,  60,  Fig.  2)  each  presents  a  single  circle  of  radiating  lamiuEB  of  woody 
fibre,  B,  placed  between  a  central  mass  of  cellular  tissue,  A,  and  an  ex- 
terior circle  of  the  same  tissue,  C.  Around  the  trunk,  thus  constituted 
of  three  parts,  is  placed  a  case  or  false  bark,  D,  composed  of  the  persis- 
tent bases  of  fallen  leaves,  and  of  abortive  scales.  The  continuation  of  the 
same  structure  is  seen  at  the  summit  of  the  stem,  PI.  60,  Fig.  1,  A.  B.  C.  D. 

The  Cycadites  microphyllus,  PI.  61,  Fig.  1,  affords  a  similar  approach 
to  the  internal  structure  of  the  stem  in  the  recent  Cycas.  The  summit  of 
this  fossil  exhibits  a  central  mass  of  cellular  tissue  (A,)  surrounded  by 
two  circles  of  radiating  woody  plates,  B.  b.,  between  these  laminated 
circles,  is  a  narrow  circle  of  cellular  tissue,  whilst  a  broader  circle  of 
similar  cellular  tissue  (C)  is  placed  between  the  exterior  laminated  circle, 
(b)  and  the  leaf  scales  (D.)     This  alternation  of  radiating  circles  of  wood 

VOL.  I.— 32 


374     STRUCTURE  OF  SCALES  OR  BASES  OF  LEAF  STALKS. 

A  strict  correspondence  is  also  exhibited  in  the  internal 
structure  of  the  scales,  or  bases  of  leaf  stalks  surrounding 
the  trunks  of  our  fossil  Cycadites,  with  that  of  the  correspond- 
ing scales  in  the  recent  species.* 

with  circles  of  cellular  tissue,  is  similar  to  the  two  laminated  circles  near 
the  base  of  a  young  stem  of  Cycas  revoluta,  (PI.  59,  Fig.  3.)  This  secliaa 
was  communicated  to  me  by  Mr.  Brown  early  in  1828,  to  confirm  the 
analogy  which  had  been  suggested  from  the  external  surface,  between  these 
fossils,  and  the  recent  Cycadese ;  and  is  figured  in  Geol.  Trans.  N.  S,  vol.  ii. 
PI.  46, 

*  In  PI.  61,  Figs.  2,  3,  represent  two  vertical  sections  of  a  Cycadites  mi- 
crophyllus  from  Portland,  converted  to  Calcedony,  These  slices  are  parallel 
to  the  axis  of  the  trunk,  and  intersect  transversely  the  persistent  bases  of  the 
Petioles  or  Leaf  stalks.  In  each  rhomboidal  Petiole,  we  see  the  remains  of 
three  systems  of  vegetable  structure,  of  which  magnified  representations  are 
given  PI.  62,  Fig,  1,  2,  3.  We  have,  first,  the  principal  mass  of  cellular  tis- 
sue (f ;)  secondly,  sections  of  gum  vessels  (h)  irregularly  dispersed  through 
this  cellular  tissue;  thirdly,  bundles  of  vessels,  (c,)  placed  in  a  somewhat 
rhomboidal  form,  parallel  to,  and  a  little  within,  the  integument  of  each 
petiole.  These  bundles  of  vessels  are  composed  of  vascular  woody  fibres 
proceeding  from  the  trunk  of  the  plant  towards  the  leaf.  See  magnified  sec- 
tion of  one  bundle  at  PI.  62,  Fig.  3,  c'. 

A  similar  arrangement  of  nearly  all  these  parts  exists  in  the  transverse 
section  of  the  leaf  stalks  of  recent  Cycadeis.  In  Cycas  circinalis,  and  C. 
revoluta,  and  Zamia  furfuracea,  the  bundles  of  vessels  are  placed  as  in  our 
fossil,  nearly  parallel  to  the  integument.  In  Zamia  spiralis,  and  Z.  horrida, 
their  disposition  within  the  Petiole,  is  less  regular,  but  the  internal  structure 
of  each  bundle  is  nearly  the  same.  In  PI,  62,  Fig.  A  shows  the  place  of 
these  bundles  of  vessels  in  a  transverse  section  of  the  leaf  stalk  of  Zamia 
spiralis;  Fig.  A.  c'.  is  the  magnified  appearance  of  one  of  the  bundles  in  this 
section ;  Fig.  B,  c"  is  the  magnified  transverse  section  of  a  similar  bundle 
of  vessels  in  the  petiole  of  Zamia  horrida.  In  this  species  the  vasculur  fibres 
are  smaller  and  more  numerous  than  in  Z.  spiralis,  and  the  opake  lines  less 
distinct.  Both  in  recent  and  fossil  Cycadese  the  component  vascular  fibres 
of  these  bundles  are  in  rows  approximated  so  closely  to  each  other,  that  their 
compressed  edges  give  an  appearance  of  opake  lines  between  the  rows  of 
vascular  fibres,  (see  PI.  62,  Fig.  i,c'.  Fig.  B,  c"  and  Fig.  3,  c'.)  These  bun- 
dles of  vessels  seem  to  partake)  of  the  laminated  disposition  of  the  woody 
circular  within  the  trunk. 

An  agreement  is  found  also  in  the  longitudinal  sections  of  the  Petioles 
of  recent  and  fossil  Cycadca;,  PI.  62,  Fig.  1,  is  the  longitudinal  section 
of  part  of  the  base  of  a  Petiole  of  Zamia  spiralis,  magnified  to  twice  the 
natural  size.  It  is  made  up  of  cellular  tissue,  (f,)  interspersed  with  gum 
vessels,  and  with  long  bundles  of  vascular  fibres,  (c)  proceeding  from  the 


INCREASE  OF  CYCADEiS  BY  BUDS.  375 

Mode  of  increase  by  Buds  the  same  in  recent  and  fossil 
CycadecB. 

The  Cycas  revoluta  figured  in  PI.  58*  possesses  a  peculiar 
interest  in  relation  to  both  our  fossil  species,  in  consequence 
of  its  protruding  a  series  of  buds  from  the  axillse  of  many  of 
the  scales  around  its  trunk.  These  buds  explain  analogous 
appearances  at  the  axillae  of  many  fossil  scales  on  Cycadites 

trunk  towards  the  leaf.  On  the  lower  integument,  (b')  is  a  dense  coaling  of 
minute  curling  filaments  of  down  or  cotton,  (a)  which  being  repeated  on 
each  scale,  renders  the  congeries  of  scales  surrounding  the  trunk,  impervi- 
ous to  air  and  moisture. 

A  similar  disposition  is  seen  in  the  longitudinal  section  of  the  fossil  Petiole 
of  Cycadites  microphyllus  represented  at  PI.  62,  Fig.  2,  and  magnified  four 
times.  At  f,  we  have-  cellular  tissue  interspersed  with  gum  vessels,  h.  Be- 
neath c,  are  longitudinal  bundles  of  vessels  ;  at  be,  is  the  integument;  at  «, 
a  most  beautiful  petrifaction  of  the  curling  filaments  of  down  or  cotton,  pro- 
ceeding from  the  surface  of  this  integument. 

In  the  vascular  bundles  within  the  fossil  Petioles,  (c)  Mr.  Brown  has  re- 
cognised the  presence  of  spiral,  or  scalariform  vessels  (Vasa  scalariforma) 
such  as  are  found  in  the  Petioles  of  recent  CycadcEe ;  he  has  also  detected 
similar  vessels,  in  the  laminated  circle  within  the  trunk  of  the  fos.sil  Buds 
next  to  be  described.  The  existence  of  vessels  with  discs  peculiar  to  recent 
CyeadesB  and  Coniferae,  such  as  have  been  described  in  speaking  of  fossil 
ConifercB,  has  not  yet  been  ascertained. 

*  This  plant  has  been  living  many  years,  in  Lord  Grenville's  conserva- 
tory at  Dropmore.  In  the  autumn  of  1827,  the  external  part  of  the  scales 
was  cut  away  to  get  rid  of  insects  :  in  the  following  spring  the  buds  began 
to  protrude.  Similar  buds  appeared  also  in  the  same  conservatory  on  a  plant 
of  the  Zamia  spiralis  from  New  Holland.  In  vol.  vi.  p.  501,  Horticult.  Trans, 
leaves  are  stated  to  have  protruded  from  the  scales  of  a  decayed  trunk  of  Za- 
mia horrida  in  a  conservatory  at  Petersburgh. 

I  learn  from  Professor  Henslow,  that  the  trunk  of  a  Cycas  revoluta,  wliich 
in  1830  produced  a  cone  loaded  with  ripe  drupac,  in  Earl  Fitzwilliam's  hot- 
house at  Wentworth,  threw  out  a  number  of  buds,  from  the  axillce  of  the 
leaf-scales  soon  after  the  Cone  was  cut  ofi'from  its  summit.  |In  Linn.  Trans, 
vol.  vi.  tab.  29,  is  a  figure  of  a  similar  cone  which  bore  fruit  at  Farnham 
Castle,  1799. 

It  is  stated  in  Miller's  Gardener's  Dictionary,  that  the  Cycas-revoluta  was 
introduced  into  England  about  1758,  by  Captain  Hutchinson;  his  ship  was 
attacked,  and  the  head  of  the  plant  shot  off,  but  the  stem  being  preserved, 
threw  out  several  new  heads,  which  were  taken  off,  and  produced  as  many 
plants. 


376  INCREASE  OF  CYCADE^  BY  BUDS. 

megalophyllus,  and  Cycadites  microphyllus  (see  PI.  60,  Fig. 
1,  and  PI.  61,  Fig.  1,)  and  form  an  important  point  of  agree- 
ment in  the  Physiology  of  the  Uving  and  fossil  Cycadese* 

Thus,  we  see  that  our  fossil  Cycadites  are  closely  allied 
by  many  remarkable  characters  of  structure,  to  existing 
Cycadese. 

l.By  the  internal  structure  of  the  trunk,  containing  a  ra- 
diating circle,  or  circles,  of  woody  fibre,  embedded  in  cellu- 
lar tissue.  2.  By  the  structure  of  their  outer  case,  composed 
of  persistent  bases  of  petioles,  in  place  of  a  bark ;  and  by  all 
tlie  minute  details  in  the  internal  organization  of  each  Pe- 
tiole. 3.  By  their  mode  of  increase  by  Buds  protruded 
from  ixerms  in  the  Axillee  of  the  Petioles. 


*  In  the  fossil  trunk  of  Cycadites  microphyllus,  PI.  Gl.  Fig.  1,  we  see 
fourteen  Buds  protruding  from,  the  axillEe  of  the  leaf  stalks,  and  in  PI.  60, 
Fig.  1,  we  have  three  Buds  in  a  similar  position  in  Cycadites  megalophyllus. 

In  PI.  61,  Figs.  2,  3,  exhibit  transverse  sections  of  three  Buds  of  Cyca- 
dites niycrophyllus.  The  section  of  the  uppermost  bud.  Fig.  3,  g,  passes 
only  through  the  leaf  stalks  near  its  crown.  The  section  of  the  bud,  Fig. 
3,  'd,  being  lower  down  in  the  embryo  trunk,  exhibits  a  double  woody  cir- 
cle, arranged  in  radiating  plates,  resembling  the  double  woody  circle  in  the 
mature  trunk,  PI.  61, 1,  B,b.  But  in  PI.  61,  Fig.  2,  the  laminated  circle  within 
the  embryo  trunk  near  d,  is  less  distinctly  double,  as  might  be  expected  in  so 
young  a  state. 

At  PI.  62,  Fig.  3,  d,  and  d',  we  see  magnified  representations  of  a  portion 
of  the  embryo  circle  within  the  Bud,  Pi.  61.  Fig.  3,  'd.  These  woody  cir- 
cles within  the  buds,  are  placed  between  an  exterior  circle  of  cellular  tissue' 
interspersed  with  gum  vessels,  and  a  central  mass  of  the  same  tissue,  as  in 
the  mature  stems. 

On  the  right  of  the  lower  bud,  PI.  61,  Fig.  3,  above  b,  and  in  the  magni- 
iied  representations  of  the  same  at  PI.  62,  Fig.  3,  e,  we  have  portions  of  a 
small  imperfect  laminated  circle.  Similar  imperfect  circles  occur  also  near 
the  margin  of  tlie  sections,  PI.  61,  Figs.  2.  3,  at  e,  c',  e" ;  these  may  be  im- 
perfectly developed  Buds,  crowded  like  the  small  Buds  near  the  base  of  the 
living  Cycasj  PI.  58:  or  they  may  have  resulted  from  the  confluence  of  the 
bundles  of  vessels,  in  the  Bases  of  leaves,  forced  together  by  pressure,  con- 
nected with  a  diminution  or  decay  of  their  cellular  substance.  The  normal 
position  of  these  bundles  of  vessels  is  seen  magnified  in  PI.  62.  Fig.  3.  c.  and 
in  nearly  all  the  Sections  of  Bases  of  petioles  in  PI.  61.  Fig.  2, 


RECENT  PANDA NE^.  377 

However  remote  may  have  been  the  time  when  these 
Prototj^es  of  the  family  of  Cycadea?  ceased  to  exist,  the  fact 
of  their  containing  so  many  combinations  of  pecuUarities 
identical  with  those  of  existing  Cycadeae,  connects  these  an- 
cient arrangements  in  the  Physiology  of  fossil  Botany,  with 
those  which  now  characterize  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
families  among  existing  plants.  In  virtue  of  these  peculiar 
structures,  the  living  Cycadese  form  an  important  link,  which 
no  other  Tribe  of  plants  supplies,  connecting  the  great  family 
of  Coniferas,  with  the  families  of  Palms  and  Ferns,  and  thus 
fill  up  a  blank,  which  would  otherwise  have  separated  these 
three  great  natural  divisions  of  dicotyledonous,  monocotyle- 
donous,  and  acot3dedonous  plants. 

The  full  development  of  this  link  in  the  Secondary  periods 
of  Geological  history,  affords  an  important  evidence  of  the 
Uniformity  of  Design  which  now  pervades,  and  ever  has 
pervaded,  all  the  laws  of  vegetable  life. 

Facts  like  these  are  inestimably  precious  to  the  Natural 
Theologian ;  for  they  identify,  as  it  were  the  Artificer,  by 
details  of  manipulation  throughout  his  work.  They  appeal 
to  the  Physiologist,  in  language  more  commanding  than  hu- 
man Eloquence;  the  voice  of  very  stocks  and  stones,  that 
have  been  buried  for  countless  ages  in  the  deep  recesses  of 
the  earth,  proclaiming  the  universal  agency  of  One  all-direct- 
ing, all-sustaining  Creator,  in  whose  Will  and  Power,  these 
harmonious  systems  originated,  and  by  whose  Universal 
Providence,  they  are,  and  have  at  all  times  been  main- 
tained. 

Fossil  Pandanece. 

The  Pandanesc,  or  Screw-Pines,  form  a  monocotyledo- 
nous  family  which  now  grows  only  in  the  warmer  zones, 
and  chiefly  within  the  influence  of  the  sea ;  they  abound  in 
the  Indian  Archipelago,  and  the  islands  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
Their  aspect  is  that  of  gigantic  Pine  apple  plants  having  ar- 
borescent stems.     (See  PI.  63,  Fig.  1.) 

32* 


378  FOSSIL  FRUIT  RELATED  TO  PANDANEiE. 

This  family  of  Plants  seems  destined,  like  the  Cocoa  nut 
Palm,  to  be  among  the  first  vegetable  Colonists  of  new  lands 
just  emerging  from  the  ocean ;  they  are  found  together  al- 
most universally  by  navigators  on  the  rising  Coral  islands 
of  tropical  seas.  We  have  just  been  considering  the  history 
of  the  fossil  stems  of  Cycadese  in  the  Isle  of  Portland,  from 
which  we  learn  that  Plants  of  that  now  extra-European  fa- 
mily were  natives  of  Britain,  during  the  period  of  the  Oolite 
formation.  The  unique  and  beautiful  fossil  fruit  represented 
in  our  figures  (Plate  63,  Figs.  2,  3,  4,)  aflx)rds  piT)bable  evi- 
dence of  the  existence  of  another  tropical  family  nearly  allied 
to  the  Pandaneae  at  the  commencement  of  the  great  OoUtic 
series  in  the  Secondary  formations.* 

In  structure  this  fossil  Fruit  approaches  nearer  to  Pan- 
danus  than  to  any  other  living  plant,  and  viewing  the  peculia- 
rities of  the  fruit  of  Pandaneas,-]-  in  connexion  with  the  office 

*  This  fossil  was  found  by  the  late  Mr.  Page,  of  Bisbport  near  Bristol, 
in  the  lower  region  of  the  Inferior  Oolite  formation  on  the  E.  of  Charmouth,^ 
Dorset,  and  is  now  in.  the  Oxford  Museum.  The  size  of  this  Fruit  is  that 
of  a  large  orange,  its  surface  is  occupied  by  a  stellated  covering  or  Epicar- 
piuni,  composed  of  hexagonal  Tubercles,  forming  tlie  summits  of  cells,^ 
which  occupy  the  entire  circumference  of  the  fruit.  (Figs.  2,  a.  3,  a.  4, 
a.  8,  a.) 

Within  each  cell  is  contained  a  single  seed,  resembling  a  small  grain  of 
Rice  more  or  less  compressed,  and  usually  hexagonal,  Figs.  5,  6,  7,  8,  10. 
Where  the  Epicarpium  is  removed,  the  points  of  the  seeds  are  seen,  thickly 
studded  over  the  surface  of  tlie  fruit,  (Fig.  2,  3,  e.)  The  Bases  of  the  cells 
(Fig.  3  and  10  c.)  are  separated  from  the  receptacle,  by  a  congeries  of  foot- 
stalks (d)  formed  of  a  dense  mass  of  fibres,  resembling  the  fibres  beneath 
the  base  of  the  seeds  of  the  modern  Pandanus  (Fig.  13,  14,  15,  d.)  As  this, 
position  of  the  seeds  upon  foot-stalks  composed  of  long  rigid  fibres,  at  a  dis- 
tance from  the  receptacle,  is  a  character  that  exists  in  no  other  family  than 
the  Pandaneje,  we  are  herein'  enabled  to  connect  our  ibssil  fruit  with  this 
remarkable  tribe  of  plants,  as  a  new  genus,  Foducarya.  I  owe  the  sugges- 
tion of  this  name,  and  much  of  my  information  on  this  subject,  to  tlie  kind- 
ness of  my  friend,  Mr.  Robert  Brown. 

■j-  The  large  spherical  fruit  of  Pandanus,  hanging  on  its  parent  tree  is 
represented  at  PI.  63,  Fig.  1.  Fig.  11  is  the  summit  of  one  of  the  many 
Drupes  into  which  this  fruit  is  usually  divided.  Each  cell  when  not  bar- 
ren contains  a  single  oblong  slender  seed;  the  cells  in  each  drupe  vary 


FUNCTIONS  OF  PANDANE^.  379' 

assigned  in  the  Economy  of  nature,  to  this  family  of  sea-side 
plants,  viz.  to  take  the  first  possession  of  new-formed  land, 
just  emerging  from  the  water,  we  see  in  the  disposition  of 
light  buoyant  fibres  within  the  interior  of  these  fruits,  an 
arrangement  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  office  of  vegetable 
colonization.*  The  sea -side  locality  of  the  Pandaneae,  causes 
many  of  their  fruits  to  fall  into  the  water,  wherein  they  are 
drifted  by  the  winds  and  waves,  until  they  find  a  resting 
place  upon  some  distant  shore.  A  single  drupe  of  Panda- 
nus,  thus  charged  with  seeds,  transports  the  elements  of 
vegetation  to  the  rising  volcanic  and  coral  islands  of  the 
modern  Pacific.  The  seed  thus  stranded  upon  new-formed 
land,  produces  a  plant  which  has  pecuhar  provision  for  its 
support  on  a  surface  destitute  of  soil,  by  long  and  large  aerial 
roots  protruded  above  the  ground  around  the  lower  part  of 
its  trunk.  (See  PI.  68.  Fig.  1.)  These  roots  on  reaching 
the  ground  are  calculated  to  prop  up  the  plant  as  buttresses 
surrounding  the  basis  of  the  stem,  so  that  it  can  maintain  its 
erect  position,  and  flourish  in  barren  sand  on  newly  elevated 
reefs,  where  httle  soil  has  yet  accumulated. 


from  two  to  fourteen  in  number,  and  many  of  them  are  abortive,  (Fig.  13.) 
The  seeds  within  each  drupe  of  Pandanus  are  enclosed  in  a  hard  nut,  of  which 
sections  are  given  at  P'igs.  ]4,  15.  These  nuts  are  wanting  in  the  Podo- 
carya,  whose  seeds  are  smaller  than  those  of  Pandancre,  and  not  collected 
into  drupes,  but  dispersed  uniformly  in  single  cells  over  the  entire  circum- 
ference of  the  fruit.  (See  PI.  63,  Figs.  3,  S,  10.)  The  collection  of  the  seeds 
into  drupes  surrounded  by  a  hard  nut,  in  the  fruit  of  Pandanus,  forms  the 
essential  difference  between  this  genus,  and  our  new  genus,  Podocarya. 

In  the  fruit  of  Pandanus,  PI.  63,  Figs.  11,  16,  17,  the  summit  of  each  cell 
is  covered  with  a  hard  cap  or  tubercle,  irregularly  hexagonal,  and  crowned 
at  its  apex  with  the  remains  of  a  withered  stigma.  We  have  a  similar 
covering  of  hexagonal  tubercles  over  the  cells  of  Podocarya  (PI.  C3,  Figs. 
5,  a.  8,  a.  10,  a.)  The  remains  of  a  stigma  appear  also  in  the  centre  of 
these  hexagons  above  the  apex  of  each  seed.     (Figs.  8,  a.  10,  a.) 

*  There  is  a  similar  provision  for  transporting  to  distant  regions  of  the 
ocean,  the  seeds  of  the  other  family  of  sea-side  plants  which  accompanies 
the  Pandanus,  in  the  buoyant  mass  of  fibrous  covering  that  surrounds  the 
fruit  of  the  Cocoa-nut^ 


380       VEGETABLES  IN  THE  TERTIARY  EORMATIONS. 

Wc  have  as  yet  discovered  no  remains  of  the  leaves,  or 
trunk  of  Pandanese  in  a  fossil  state,  but  the  presence  of  our 
unique  fruit  in  the  Inferior  Oolite  formation  near  Charmouth, 
carries  us  back  to  a  point  of  time,  when  "we  knovs^  from 
other  evidence  that  England  was  in  the  state  of  new-born 
land,  emerging  from  the  seas  of  a  tepid  climate;  and  shows 
that  combinations  of  vegetable  structure  such  as  exist  in 
the  modern  Pandaneas,  adapted  in  a  peculiar  manner  to  the 
office  of  vegetable  colonization,  prevailed  also  at  the  time 
when  the  Oohte  rocks  were  in  process  of  formation. 

This  fruit  also  adds  a  new  link  to  the  chain  of  evidence 
which  makes  known  to  us  the  Flora  of  the  Secondary 
periods  of  geology,  and  therein  discloses  fresh  proofs  of 
Order,  and  Harmony,  and  of  Adaptation  of  peculiar  means 
to  peculiar  ends;  extending  backwards  from  the  actual 
condition  of  our  Planet  through  the  manifold  stages  of 
change,  which  its  ancient  surface  has  undergone.* 


SECTION  IV. 

VEGETABLES  IN  STRATA  OF  THE  TERTIARY  SERIES.f 

It  has  been  stated  that  the  vegetation  of  the  Tertiary 
period  presents  the  general  character  of  that  of  our  exist- 
ing Continents  within  the  Temperate  Zone.  In  Strata  of 
this  Series,  Dicotyledonous  Plants  assume  nearly  the  same 
proportions  as  at  present,  and  are  four  or  five  times  more 
numerous  than  the  Monocotyledonous ;  and  the  greater 
number  of  fossil  Plants,  although  of  extinct  species,  have 
much  resemblance  to  living  Genera. 

*  Fruits  of  another  genus  of  PandancsB,  to  which  Mr.  Ad.  Brongniart  has 
given  the  name  of  Pandanocarpum,  (Prodrome,  p.  138,)  occur  together  with 
fruits  of  Cocoa-nut,  at  an  early  period  of  the  Tertiary  formations,  among  the 
numerous  fossil  fruits  that  are  fouad  in  the  London  clay  of  the  Isle  of  Shep- 

pcy. 

t  See  PI.  1,  Figs.  G6  to  72. 


DICOTYLEDONOUS  PLANTS.  381 

This  third  great  change  in  the  vegetable  kingdom  is 
considered  to  supply  another  argument  in  favour  of  the 
opinion,  that  the  temperature  of  the  Atmosphere,  has  gone 
on  continually  diminishing  from  the  first  commencement  of 
hfe  upon  our  globe. 

The  number  of  species  of  plants  in  the  various  divisions 
of  the  Tertiary  strata,  is  as  yet  imperfectly  known.  In 
1828,  M.  Ad.  Brongniart  considered  the  number  then  dis- 
covered, but  not  all  described,  to  be  166.  Many  of  these 
belonsinff  to  Genera  at  that  time  not  determined.  The 
most  striking  difference  between  the  vegetables  of  this  and 
of  the  preceding  periods  is  the  abundance  in  the  Tetiary 
series,  of  existing  forms  of  Dicotyledonous  Plants  and  large 
trees,  e.  g.  Poplars,  Willows,  Elms,  Chestnuts,  Sycamores, 
and  many  other  Genera  whose  living  species  are  familiar 
to  us. 

Some  of  the  most  remarkable  accumulations  of  this  vege- 
tation are  those,  which  form  extensive  beds  of  Lignite  and 
Brown-coal.*  In  some  parts  of  Germany  this  Brown-coal 
occurs  in  strata  of  more  than  thirty  feet  in  thickness,  chiefly 
composed  of  trees  which  have  been  drifted,  apparently  by 
fresh-water,  from  their  place  of  growth,  and  spread  forth 
in  beds,  usually  alternating  with  sand  and  clay,  at  the  bot- 
tom of  then  existing  lakes  or  estuaries. 

The  Lignite,  or  beds  of  imperfect  and  stinking  Coal  near 
Poole  in  Dorset,  Bovey  in  Devon,  and  Soissons  in  France, 
have  been  referred  to  the  first,  or  Eocene  period  of  the  Ter- 
tiary formations.  To  the  same  period  probably  belongs 
the  Surturbrand  of  Iceland,  (see  Henderson's  Iceland,  vol. 
ii.  p.  114.)  and  the  well-known  examples  of  Brown-coal  on 
the  Rhine  near  Cologne  and  Bonn,  and  of  the  Miesner 
mountain,  and  Habichtswald  near  Cassel.  These  forma- 
tions occasionally  contain  the  remains  of  Palms,  and  Pro- 
fessor Lindley  has  lately  recognised,  among  some  speci-- 

*  See  an  admirable  ailicle  on  Lignites  by  Alexandre  Brongniart  in  ths 
26th  vol.  of  the  Dictionnaire  des  Sciences  Naturelles. 


382  COAL  OP  MIOCENE  PERIOD. 

mens  found  by  Mr.  Horner  in  the  Brown-coal  near  Bonn 
(See  Ann.  Phil.  Lond.  Sept.  1833,  V.  3,  222,)  leaves  closely 
allied  to  the  Cinnamomum  of  our  modern  tropics,  and  to  the 
Podocarpus  of  the  southern  hemisphere.* 

In  the  Molasse  of  Switzerland,  there  are  many  similar 
deposites  affording  sometimes  Coal  of  considerable  purity 
formed  during  the  second,  or  Miocene  period  of  this  series, 
and  usually  containing  fresh-water  shells.  Such  are  the 
Lignites  of  Vernier  near  Geneva,  of  Paudex  and  Moudon 
near  Lausanne,  of  St.  Saphorin  near  Vevay,  of  Kaepfnach 
near  Horgen  on  the  lake  of  Zurich,  and  of  CEningen  near 
Constance. 

The  Brown-coal  at  CEningen  forms   thin  beds  of  little 

*  At  Ptitzberg  near  Bonn,  six  or  seven  beds  of  Brown-coal  alternate  with 
beds  of  sandy  clay  and  plastic  clay.  The  trees  in  the  Brown-coal  are  not 
all  parallel  to  the  planes  of  the  strata,  but  cross  one  another  in  all  directions, 
like  the  drifted  trees  now  accumulated  in  the  alluvial  plains,  and  Delta  of 
the  Mississippi ;  (see  Lyell's  Geology,  3d,  edit.  vol.  i.  p.  272.)  some  of  them 
are  occasionally  forced  even  into  a  vertical  position.  In  one  vertical  tree  at 
Ptitzberg,  which  was  three  yards  in  diameter,  M.  Noggerath  counted  792 
concentric  rings.  In  these  rings  we  have  a  chronometer,  which  registers 
the  lapse  of  nearly  eight  centuries,  in  that  early  portion  of  the  Tertiary 
period  which  gave  birth  to  the  forests,  that  supplied  materials  for  the  forma- 
tion of  the  Brown-coal. 

The  fact  mentioned  by  Faujas  that  neither  roots,  branches,  or  leaves  are 
found  attached  to  the  trunks  of  trees  in  the  Lignite  at  Bruhl  and  Liblar  near 
Cologne,  seems  to  show  that  these  trees  did  not  grow  on  the  spot,  and  that 
their  more  perishable  parts  have  been  lost  during  their  transport  from  a 
distance. 

In  tlie  Brown-coal  Formation  near  Bonn,  and  also  with  the  Surturbrand  of 
Iceland,  are  found  Beds  that  divide  into  Lamince  as  thin  as  paper  {Papier 
Kohle)  and  are  composed  entirely  of  a  congeries  of  many  kinds  of  leaves. 
Henderson  mentions  the  leaves  of  two  species  of  Poplar,  resembling  the  P- 
tremula  and  P.  balsamifera,  and  a  Pine,  resembling  the  Pinus  abies  as 
occurring  in  the  Surturbrand  of  Iceland. 

Although  we  have  followed  Brongniart  in  referring  the  deposites  here 
enumerated  to  the  first  or  Eocene  period  of  the  Tertiary  series,  it  is  not 
improbable  that  some  of  them  may  be  the  products  of  a  latter  era,  in  the 
Miocene  or  Pliocene  periods.  Future  observations  on  the  Species  of  their 
animal  and  vegetable  remains  will  decide  the  exact  place  of  each,  in  the 
grand  Series  of  the  Tertiary  formations. 


BROWN-COAL  AND  LIGNITE.  383 

importance  for  fuel,  but  very  perfect  remains  of  vegetables 
are  dispersed  in  great  abundance  through  the  marly  slates 
and  limestone  quarries  which  are  worked  there,  and  afford 
the  most  perfect  history  of  the  vegetation  of  the  Miocene 
Period,  which  has  yet  come  within  our  reach.* 

•  I  have  recently  been  favoured  by  Professor  Braun  of  Carlsruhe,  with 
the  following  important  and  hitherto  unpublished  catalogue,  and  observations 
on  the  fossil  plants  found  in  the  Fresh-water  formation  of  CEningen,  which 
has  been  already  spoken  of  in  our  account  of  fossil  fishes.  The  plants 
enumerated  in  this  catalogue,  were  collected  during  a  long  series  of  years 
by  the  inmates  of  a  monastery  near  CEningen,  on  the  dissolution  of  which 
they  were  removed  to  their  present  place  in  the  Museum  of  Carlsruhe.  It 
appears  by  this  catalogue  that  the  plants  of  CEningen  afford  examples  of 
thirty.six  species  belonging  to  twenty-five  genera  of  the  following  families. 


"Families. 
Polypodiaceas 
Equisitaceae 
LycopodiaceiE 
Coniferae 

Genera. 
2 

1 
1 
2 

Species 

n 

2 

>CryptogamiaB,  total 
Gymnospermi3e 

Genera.    . 
4 
2 

Specie 
4 
2 

Gramineoe 

Najadese 

AmentaceEe 

1 
2 
5 

1  ? 

10- 

Monocotyledons 

3 

3 

Juglandeae 
Ebenacese 

1 
1 

o 
1 

Tiliaceae 

1 

1 

Acerineae 
Rhamnese 

1 
1 

5 

2 

>  Dicotyledons 

16 

21 

Leguminoseae 
Dicotyledons  of 

doubtful  families 

2 
4 

2 

4^ 

This  table  shows  the  great  preponderance  of  Dicotyledonous  plants  in  the 
Flora  of  CEningen,  and  affords  a  standard  of  comparison  with  those  of  tlie 
Brown-coal  of  other  localities  in  the  Tertiary  series.  The  greater  number 
of  the  species  found  here  correspond  with  those  in  the  Brown-coal  of  the 
Wetteraw'  and  vicinity  of  Bonn. 

Amid  this  predominance  of  Doctyledonous  vegetables,  not  a  single  herba- 
ceous plant  has  yet  been  found  excepting  some  fragments  of  Ferns  and 
Grasses,  and  many  remains  of  aquatic  plants  :  all  the  rest  belong  to  Dico- 
tyledonous, and  Gyranospermous  ligneous  plants. 

Among  these  remains   are  many  single   leaves,  apparently  dropped   in 


384  FOSSIL  PLANTS  AT  (ENINGEN. 

No  distinct  catalogues  of  plants  found  in  the  Pliocene, 
or  most  recent  periods  of  the  Te  rtiary  series,  have  yet  been 
published. 

the  natural  course  of  vegetation  ;  there  are  also  branches  with  leaves  on 
them,  such  as  may  have  been  torn  from  trees  by  stormy  weather ;  ripe  seed 
vessels ;  and  the  persistent  calix  of  many  blossoms. 

The  greater  part  of  the  fossil  plants  at  CEningen  (about  two-thirds)  be- 
long to  Genera  which  still  grow  in  that  neighbourhood;  but  their  species 
differ,  and  correspond  more  nearly  with  those  now  living  in  North  America, 
than  with  any  European  species,  the  fossil  Poplars  afford  an  example  of  this 
kind. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  some  Genera,  which  do  not  exist  in  the  pre- 
sent  Flora  of  Germany,  e.  g.  the  Genus  Diospyros ;  and  others  not  in  that 
of  Europe,  e.  g.  Taxodium,  Liquidambar,  Juglans,  Gleditschia. 

Judging  from  the  proportions  in  which  their  remains  occur.  Poplars,  Wil- 
lows, and  Maples  were  the  predominating  foliaceous  trees  in  the  former 
Flora  of  (Eningen.  Of  two  very  abundant  fossil  species,  one,  (Populus 
latior,)  resembles  the  modern  Canada  Poplar ;  the  other,  (Populus  ovalis) 
resembles  the  Balsam  Poplar  of  North  America. 

The  determination  of  the  species  of  fossil  Willows  is  more  difficult.  One 
of  these  (Salixangustifolia)  may  have  resembled  our  present  Salix  viminalis. 

Of  the  genus  Acer,  one  species  may  be  compared  with  Acer  campestre, 
another  with  Acer  pseudoplatanus  ;  but  the  most  frequent  species,  (Acer 
protensum,)  appears  to  correspond  most  nearly  with  the  Acer  dasycarpon  of 
Nortli  America;  to  another  species,  related  to  Acer  negundo,  Mr.  Braun 
gives  the  name  of  Acer  trifoliatum.  A  fossil  species  of  Liquidambar  (L. 
europeum,  Braun.)  differs  from  the  living  Liquidambar  styracifluum  of 
America,  in  having  the  narrower  lobes  of  its  leaf  terminated  by  longer 
points,  and  was  the  former  representative  of  this  genus  in  Europe.  The 
fruit  of  this  Liqeidambar  is  preserved,  and  also  that  of  two  species  of  Acer 
and  one  Salix. 

The  fossil  Linden  Tree  of  CEningen  resembled  our  modern  large  leaved 
Linden  tree  (Tilia  grandiflora.) 

The  fossil  Elm  resembled  a  small  leaved  form  of  Ulmus  campestris. 

Of  two  species  of  Juglans,  one  (J,  falcifolia)  may  be  compared  with  the 
American  J.  nigra;  the  other,  with  J.  Alba,  and  like  it,  probably  belonged 
to  the  division  of  nuts  with  bursting  external  shells,  (Garya  Nuttal.) 

Among  the  scarcer  plants  at  (Eningen,  is  a  species  of  Diospyros  (D.  bra- 
chysepala.)  A  remarkable  calyx  of  this  plant  is  preserved,  and  sliows  in 
its  centre  tlie  place  where  the  fruit  separated  itself:  it  is  distinguished  from 
the  living  Diospyros  lotus  of  the  South  of  Europe  by  blunter  and  shorter  sec- 
tions. 


PALMSIN  SECONDARY  AND  TRANSITION  SERIES.  385 


Fossil  Palms. 

The  discovery  of  the  remains  of  Pahns  Trees  in  the 
Brown-coal  of  Germany  has  been  already  noticed  ;  and  the 

Among  the  fossil  shrubs  are  two  species  of  Rhamnus ;  one  of  these  (R. 
multinervis,  Braun)  resembles  the  R.  alpinus,  in  the  costation  of  its  leaf. 
The  second  and  most  frequent  species,  (R.  terminalis,  Braun)  may  with 
regard  to  the  position  and  costation  of  its  leaves,  be  compared  in  some  de- 
gree with  R.  catharticus,  but  differed  from  all  living  species  in  having  its 
flowers  placed  at  the  tips  of  the  plant. 

Among  the  fossil  Leguminous  plants  is  a  leaf  more  like  that  of  a  fruticose 
Cytisus  than  of  any  herbaceous  Trefoil, 

Of  a  Gleditschia,  (G.  podocarpa,  Braun)  there  are  fossil  pinnated  leaves 
and  many  pods;  the  latter  seem,  like  the  G.  Monasperma  of  North  America, 
to  have  been  single  seeded,  and  are  small  and  short,  with  a  long  stalk  con- 
tracting the  base  of  the  pod. 

With  these  numerous  species  of  foliaceous  woods,  are  found  also  a 
few  species  of  Conifera3.  One  species  of  Abies  is  still  undertermined ; 
branches  and  small  cones  of  another  tree  of  this  family  (Taxodium  curo- 
peum,  Ad.  Brong.)  resemble  the  Cypress  of  Japan  (Taxodium  Japonicum.) 

Among  the  remains  of  aquatic  plants  are  a  narrow-leaved  Potamogeton ; 
and  an  Isoctes,  similar  to  the  I.  lacustris  now  found  in  small  lakes  of  the 
Black  Forest,  but  not  in  the  Lake  of  Constance. 

The  existence  of  Grasses  at  the  period  when  this  formation  was  deposited, 
is  shown  by  a  well  preserved  impression  of  a  leaf,  similar  to  that  of  a 
Triticum,  turning  to  the  right,  and  on  which  the  costation  is  plainly  ex- 
pressed. 

Fragments  of  fossil  Ferns  occur  here,  having  a  resemblance  to  Pteris 
aquilina  and  Aspidium  Filix  mas. 

The  remains  of  Equisetum  indicate  a  species  resembling  E.  palustre. 

Among  the  kvi  undetermined  remains  are  the  five-cleft  and  beautiful 
veined  impressions  of  the  Calyx  of  a  blossom,  which  are  by  no  means  rare  at 
CEningen, 

No  remains  of  any  Rosaceae  have  yet  been  discovered  at  this  place."' 
Letter  from  Prof.  Braun  to  Dr.  Buckland,  Nov,  25,  1825, 

In  addition  to  these  fossil  Plants,  the  strata  at  QCningen  contain  many 
species  of  fresh-water  Shells,  and  a  remarkable  collection  of  fossil  Fishes 
which  we  have  before  mentioned,  P,  285.  In  the  family  of  Reptiles  they 
present  a  very  curious  Tortoise,  and  a  gigantic  aquatic  Salamander,  more 
than  three  feet  long,  the  Homo  Diluvii  testis  of  Scheuchzer,  A  Lagomys 
and  fossil  Fox  have  also  been  found  here.  (See  Geol.  Trans.  Lond.  N.  S,  vol. 
iii,  p.  287. 

VOL.  I.— 33 


386  DISTRIBUTION  OF  RECENT  AND  FOSSIL  PALMS. 

more  frequent  occurrence  of  similar  remains  of  this  inte- 
resting family,  in  the  Tertiary  formations  of  France,  Swit- 
zerland, and  England,  whilst  they  are  comparatively  rare 
in  strata  of  the  Secondary  and  Transition  series,  suggests 
the  propriety  of  consigning  to  this  part  of  our  subject  the 
few  observations  we  have  to  make  on  their  history. 

The  existing  family  of  Palms*  is  supposed  to  consist  of 
nearly  a  thousand  species,  of  which  the  greater  number  are 
limited  to  peculiar  regions  of  the  torrid  Zone.  If  we  look 
to  the  geological  history  of  this  large  and  beautiful  family, 
we  shall  find  that  although  it  was  called  into  existence,  to- 
gether with  the  most  early  vegetable  forms  of  the  Transi- 
tion period,  it  presents  very  few  species  in  the  Coal  forma- 
tion (See  Lindley's  Foss.  Flora,  No.  XV,  PI.  142,  P.  163,) 
and  occurs  sparingly  in  the  Secondary  series  ;t  but  in  the 
Tertiary  formation  we  have  abundant  stems  and  leaves,  and 
fruits,  derived  from  Palms.J 


Fossil  Trunks  of  Palm  Trees. 

The  fossil  stems  of  Palms  are  referable  to  many  species ; 
they  occur  beautifully  silicified  in  the  Tertiary  deposites  of 
Hungary,  and  in  the  Calcaire  Grossier  of  Paris.§     Trunks 

In  Oct.  1835,  I  saw  in  the  Museum  at  Leyden,  a  living  Salamander  three 
feet  long,  the  first  ever  brought  alive  to  Europe,  of  a  species  nearly  allied  to 
the  fossil  Salamander  of  CEningen.  This  animal  was  brought  by  Dr.  Siebold 
from  a  lake  within  the  crater  of  an  extinct  volcano,  on  a  high  mountain 
in  Japan.  It  fed  greedily  on  small  fishes,  and  frequently  cast  its  epider- 
mis. 

*SeePl.  l,Figs,66,  67.  68. 

■j-  See  Sprengel's  Account  of  Endogenites  Palmacites  in  New  red  sand- 
stone, near  Chemnitz,  (Halle,  1 828.)  and  Cotta's  Dendrolithen,  (Dresden  and 
Leipsig,  1832.  PI.  ix,  x.) 

t  Eight  species  in  the  family  of  Palms  are  given  in  Ad.  Brongniart's  list 
of  the  fossils  of  the  Tertiary  Series. 

^  Our  figure  PI.  64,  Fig.  2,  represents  the  summit  of  a  beautiful  fossil 
Trunk  in  the  Museum  at  Paris,  allied  to  the  family  of  Palms,  and  rearly 
four  feet  in  circumference,  from  the  lower  region  of  the  Calcaire  Grossier 
at   Vaillet   near  Soissons.    M.   Brongniart  has   applied  to  this  fossil  the 


FOSSIL  LEAFS  OF  PALM  TREES.  387 

of  Palms  are  also  found  in  the  Fresh-water  formation  of 
Mont  Martre.*— It  is  stated,  that  at  Liblar,  near  Cologne, 
they  have  been  seen  in  a  vertical  position.f  Beautifully 
silicified  stems  of  Palm  Trees  abound  in  Antigua,  and  in 
India,  and  on  the  banks  of  the  Iraw^adi,  in  the  kingdom  of 
Ava. 

It  is  not  surprising  to  find  the  remains  of  Palms  in  warm 
latitudes  where  plants  of  this  family  are  now  indigenous,  as 
in  Antigua  or  India ;  but  their  occurrence  in  the  Tertiary 
formations  of  Europe,  associated  with  the  remains  of  Croco- 
diles and  Tortoises,  and  with  marine  shells,  nearly  allied  to 
forms  which  are  at  present  found  in  seas  of  a  warm  tempe- 
rature, seems  to  indicate  that  the  climate  of  Europe  during 
the  Tertiary  period,  was  warmer  than  it  is  at  present. 

Fossil  Palm  leaves. 

We  have  seven  known  localities  of  fossil  Palm  leaves,  in 
the  Tertiary  strata  of  France,  Switzerland,  and  the  Tyrol; 
and  among  them  at  least  three  species,  of  flabelliform  leaves, 
all  diflfering  not  only  from  that  of  the  Chemaerops  humilis, 
the  only  native  palm  of  the  South  of  Europe,  but  also  from 

name  o?  Endogenites  echinutus.  The  projecting  bodies  that  surround  it,  like 
the  foliage  of  a  Corinthian  Capital,  are  the  persistent  portions  of  fallen 
Petioles  which  remain  adhering  to  the  stem  after  the  leaves  themselves  have 
fallen  off.  They  have  a  dilated  base  embracing  one-fourth  or  one  third  of 
the  stem;  the  form  of  these  bases,  and  the  disposition  of  their  woody  tissue 
in  fasciculi  or  fibres,  refer  this  fossil  to  some  arborescent  Monocotyledonous 
Tree  allied  to  the  Palms. 

*  Prostrate  trunks  of  Palm  trees  of  considerable  size  are  found  in  the 
argillaceous  marl  beds  above  the  Gypsum  strata  of  the  Paris  basin,  together 
with  shells  of  Lymnea  and  Planorbis ;  as  these  Trunks  occur  here  in  fresh- 
water deposites  they  cannot  have  been  drifted  by  marine  current  from  dis- 
tant regions,  but  were  probably  natives  of  Europe,  and  of  France. 

+  It  is  not  shown  whether  these  Palm  trees  were  drifted  in  this  position, 
or  are  still  standing  in  the  spot  whereon  they  grew  like  the  Cycadites  and 
Coniferse  in  the  Isle  of  Portland, 


388  FOSSIL  FRUITS  OF  PALMS. 

Every  known  living  species.*  These  leaves  are  too  well 
preserved  to  have  endured  transport  by  water  from  a  dis- 
tant region,  and  must  apparently  be  referred  to  extinct 
species,  which  in  the  Tertiary  period,  were  indigenous  in 
Europe. 

No  pinnated  Palm  leaf  has  yet  been  found  in  the  Tertiary 
Strata,  although  the  number  of  these  forms  among  existing 
palms,  is  more  than  double  that  of  the  tlabelhform  leaves.f 

Fossil  Fruits  of  Palms. 

Many  fossil  fruits  of  the  Tertiary  period  belong  to  the 
family  of  Palms,  all  of  which,  according  to  M.  Ad.  Brong- 
niart,  seem  derived  from  Genera  that  have  pinnated  leaves. 
Several  such  fruits  occur  in  the  Tertiary  clay  of  the  Island 
of  Sheppey ;  among  which  are  the  Date,J  now  peculiar  to 
Africa  and  India ;  the  Cocoa-nut,§  which  grows  universally 
within  the  tropics;  the  Bactris,  wdiich  is  hmited  to  America; 
and  the  Areca,  which  is  found  only  in  Asia.  Not  one  of 
these  can  be  referred  to  any  flabelliform  palm.  Fossil 
Cocoa-nuts  occur  also  at  Brussels,  and  at  Liblar  near 
Cologne,  together  with  fruits  of  the  Areca. 

*  The  leaf  represented  in  PI.  64.  fig.  1.  is  that  of  a  flahelliform  Palm 
(Palmacites  Latnanonis,)  from  the  Gypsum  of  Aix  in  Provence ;  similar 
leaves  have  been  found  in  three  other  parts  of  France,  near  Amiens,  Mans, 
and  Ang-ers,  all  in  strata  of  the  Tertiary  epoch.  Another  species  (Palma- 
cites Parisiensis)  has  been  found  in  the  Calcaire  Grossier,  near  Versailles 
(Cvvier  and  Brongniart,  O'eognosie  des  Environs  de  Paris,  PI.  8,  fig.  1.  E.) 
A  third  species  of  Palm  leaf  (Palmacites  flabellatus)  occurs  in  the  Molasse 
of  Switzerland,  near  Lausanne,  and  in  the  Lignite  of  Hoering,  in  Tyrol" 
See  PI.  1,  figs.  13.  66. 

t  The  Date,  Cocoa-nut  Palm,  and  Areca  are  familiar  examples  of  Palms 
having  pinnated  leaves.     See  PI.  L  figs.  67.  68. 

t  See  Parkinson's  Org.  Rem.  Vol.  i,  PI,  VI.  fig.  4,  9. 

§  See  Parkinson's  Org.  Rem.  Vol.  i.  PI.  VIL  fig.  1—5.  M.  Brongniart 
says,  these  fruits  are  undoubtedly  of  the  Genus  Cocos,  near  to  Cocos  lapi- 
dea,  of  GtBrtner. 


TROPICAL  FRUITS  IN  SHEPPEY.  389 

Although  all  these  fruits  belong  to  Genera  whose  leaves 
are  pinnated,  no  fossil  pinnated  Palm  leaves  (as  we  have 
just  stated,)  have  yet  been  found  in  Europe.  It  seems  there- 
fore most  likely,  from  the  mode  in  which  so  large  a  number 
of  miscellaneous  fruits  are  crowded  together  in  the  Isle  of 
Sheppey,  mixed  with  marine  shells  and  fragments  of  timber, 
almost  always  perforated  by  Teredines,  that  the  fruits  in 
question  were  drifted  by  marine  currents  from  a  warmer 
climate  than  that  which  Europe  presented  after  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Tertiary  Epoch;  in  the  same  manner  as- 
tropical  seeds  and  logs  of  mahogany  are  now  drifted  from 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  Coasts  of  Norway  and  Ireland. 

Besides  the  fruits  of  Palms,  the  Isle  of  Sheppey  presents 
an  assemblage  of  many  hundred  species  of  other  fruits,* 
most  of  them  apparently  tropical;  these  could  scarcely  have 
been  accumulated,  as  they  are,  without  a  single  leaf  of  the 
tree  on  which  they  gi'ew,  and  have  been  associated  with 
drifted  timber  bored  by  Teredines,  by  any  other  means  than 
a  sea-current. 

We  have  no  decisive  information  as  to  the  number  of  spe- 
cies of  these  fossil  fruits ;  they  have  been  estimated  at  from 
six  to  seven  hundred.f  In  the  same  clay  with  them  are 
found  great  numbers  of  fossil  Crustaceans,  and  also  the  re- 
mains of  many  fishes,  and  of  Crocodiles,  and  aquatic  Tor- 
toises. 

*  According'  to  H.  Ad.  Brongniart,  many  of  these  have  near  relation  to 
the  aromatic  fruits  of  the  Amomum  (cardamom,)  they  are  triangular,  much 
compressed,  and  umbilicated  at  the  summit,  which  presents  a  small  circular 
areola,  apparently  the  cicatrix  of  an  adherent  calyx;  within  are  three  valves. 
A  sligiit  furrow  passes  along  the  middle  of  each  plain  surface,  similar  to  that 
on  the  fruit  of  many  scitamineous  plants.  These  Sheppey  fruits,  however, 
cannot  be  identified  with  any  known  Genus  of  that  Family,  but  approach  so 
nearly  to  it,  that  Ad.  Brongniart  gives  them  the  name  of  Amomocarpum. 

■\  See  Parkinson's  Organic  Remains,  Vol.  i.  Pi.  6,  7.  Jacob's  Flora  Fa- 
vershamensis.  And  Dr.  Parsons,  in  Phil.  Trans.  Lond.  1757,  Vol.  50,  page 
S96,  Pi.  XV.  XVI.  A  collection  of  these  fruits  is  preserved  in  the  British 
Museum,  another  in  the  Museum  at  Canterbury,  and  a  third  in  that  of  Mr. 
Bowerbank,  in  London. 

33* 


390  VEGETABLES  OF  THREE  EPOCHS. 

As  the  drifted  seeds  that  occur  in  Sheppey  seem  to  have 
been  collected  by  the  action  of.  marine  currents,  the  history 
of  European  vegetation  during  the  Tertiary  period,  must  be 
sought  for  in  those  other  remains  of  plants,  whose  state  and 
circumstances  show  that  they  have  grown  at  no  great  dis- 
tance from  the  spot  in  which  they  are  now  found.* 

Conclusion. 

The  following  is  a  summary  of  what  is  yet  known,  re- 
specting the  varying  conditions  of  the  Flora  of  the  three 
great  periods  of  Geological  history  we  have  been  consider- 
ing. 

The  most  characteristic  distinctions  between  the  vegeta- 
ble remains  of  these  'periods  are  as  follows.  In  the  first 
period,  the  predominance  of  vascular  Cryptogamic,  and 
comparative  rarity  of  Dicotyledonous  plants.  In  the  second, 
the  approximation  to  equality  of  vascular  Cryptogamic,  and 
Dicotyledonous  plants.f  In  the  third,  the  predominance 
of  Dicotyledonous,  and  rarity  of  vascular  Cryptogamic 
plants.  Among  existing  vegetables  almost  two-thirds  are 
Dicotyledonous. 

The  Remains  of  Monocotyledonous  plants  occur,  though 
sparingly,  in  each  period  of  Geological  formations. 

The  number  of  fossil  plants  as  yet  described  is  about  five 
hundred ;  nearly  three  hundred  of  these  are  from  strata  of 
the  Transition  series;  and  almost  entirely  from  the  Coal  for- 
mation. About  one  hundred  are  from  strata  of  the  Secondary 
series,  and  more  than  a  hundred  from  formations  of  the 

•  The  beautiful  Amber,  whicli  is  found  on  the  eastern  sliores  of  England, 
and  on  the  Coasts  of  Prussia  and  Sicily,  and  which  is  supposed  to  be  fossil 
resin,  is  derived  from  beds  of  Lignite  in  'i'ertiary  strata.  Fragments  of  fossil 
gum  were  found  near  London  in  digging  tlie  tunnel  through  tlie  London 
clay  at  Highgate. 

+  The  dicotyledonous  plants  of  tlie  Transition  and  Secondary  formations 
present  only  that  peculiar  tribe  of  this  class,  whicli  is  made  up  of  Cycadex 
and  Coniferie,  viz.  Gymnospermoiis  Phanerogamic. 


PREVAILING  FAMILIES  IN  EACH  EPOCH.  391 

Tertiary  series.     Many  additional  species  have  been  col- 
lected from  each  of  these  series,  but  are  not  yet  named. 

As  the  known  species  of  living  vegetables  are  more  than 
fifty  thousand,  and  the  study  of  fossil  botony  is  as  yet  but  in 
its  infancy,  it  is  probable  that  a  large  amount  of  fossil  spe- 
cies lies  hid  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  which  the  dis- 
coveries of  each  passing  year  will  be .  continually  bringing 
to  light. 

The  plants  of  the  First  period  are  in  a  great  measure 
composed  of  Ferns,  and  gigantic  Equisetacege ;  and  of  fa- 
milies, of  intermediate  character  between  existing  forms  of 
Lycopodiacese  and  Coniferse,  e.  g.  Lepidodendriae,  Sagilla- 
rise,  and  Stigmariae;  with  a  few  Coniferce. 

Of  plants  of  the  Second  period,  about  one-third  are 
Ferns :  and  the  greatest  part  of  the  remainder  are,  Cyca- 
deas  and  Coniferse,  with  a  few  Liliacese.  More  species  of 
Cycadeae  occur  among  the  fossils  of  this  period,  than  are 
found  living  on  the  present  surface  of  the  earth.  They  form 
more  than  one-third  of  the  total  known  fossil  Flora  of  the 
Secondary  formations ;  whilst  of  our  actual  vegetation, 
Cycadeae  are  not  one-thousandth  part. 

The  vegetation  of  the  Third  period  approximated  closely 
to  that  of  the  existing  surface  of  the  globe. 

Among  living  famihes  of  plants.  Sea- weeds.  Ferns,  Lyco- 
podiacese, Equisetacese,  Cycadeae  and  Coniferae,  bear  the 
nearest  relation  to  the  earliest  forms  of  vegetation  that  have 
existed  upon  our  planet. 

The  family  which  has  most  universally  pervaded  every 
stage  of  vegetation  is  that  of  Coniferae ;  increasing  in  the 
number  and  variety  of  its  genera  and  species,  at  each  suc- 
cessive change  in  the  climate  and  condition  of  the  surface 
of  the  earth.  This  family  forms  about  one  three-hundreth 
part  of  the  total  number  of  existing  vegetables. 

Another  family  which  has  pervaded  all  the  Series  of  for- 
mations, though  in  small  proportions,  is  that  of  Palms. 

The  view  we  have  taken,  of  the  connexions  between  the 
extinct  and  living  specimens  of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  sup- 


392  CONNEXION  WITH  PHYSICO-THEOLOaT. 

plies  an  extensive  fund  of  arguments,  and  lays  open  a  new 
and  large  field  of  inquiry,  both  to  the  Physiologist,  and  to  the 
student  in  Physico-Theology. 

In  the  fossil  Flora,  we  have  not  only  the  existing  funda- 
mental distinctions  between  Endogenous  and  Exogenous 
plants,  but  we  have  also  agreement  in  the  details  of  struc- 
ture throughout  numerous  families,  which  indicates  the  m- 
fluence  of  the  same  Laws,  that  regulate  the  development  of 
the  living  members  of  the  vegetable  kingdom. 

The  remains  of  Fructification,  also ;  found  occasionally 
with  the  plants  of  all  formations,  show  still  farther,  that  the 
principles  of  vegetable  Reproduction  have  at  all  times  been 
the  same. 

The  exquisite  organizations  which  are  disclosed  by  the 
microscope,  in  that  which  to  the  naked  eye  is  but  a  log  of 
Lignite,  or  a  lump  of  Coal,  not  only  demonstrate  the  adap- 
tation of  means  to  ends,  but  the  application  also  of  similar 
means,  to  effect  corresponding  ends,  throughout  the  several 
Creations  which  have  modified  the  changing  forms  of  vege- 
table life. 

Such  combinations  of  contrivances,  varying  with  the 
varied  conditions  of  the  earth,  not  only  prove  the  existence 
of  a  Designer  from  the  existence  of  method,  and  design;  bat 
from  the  Connexion  of  parts,  and  Unity  of  purpose,  which 
pervade  the  entirety  of  one  vast,  and  complex,  but  harmo- 
nious Whole,  show  that  One,  and  the  same  Mind  gave  ori- 
gin and  efficacy  to  them  all. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Proofs  of  Design  in  the  Dispositions  of  Strata  of  the  Carbo-^ 
niferous  Order. 

In  reviewing  the  History  and  geological  position  of  vege- 
tables which  have  passed  into  the  state  of  mineral  coal,  we 
have  seen  that  our  grand  supplies  of  fossil  fuel  are  derived 


BENEFICIAL  DISPOSITION  OF  COAL  STRATA.  393 

almost  exclusively  from  strata  of  the  Transition  series. 
Examples  of  Coal  in  any  of  the  Secondary  strata  are  few 
and  insignificant ;  whilst  the  Lignites  of  the  Tertiary  forma- 
tions, although  they  occasionally  present  small  deposites  of 
compact  and  useful  fuel,  exert  no  important  influence  on  the 
economical  condition  of  mankind.* 

It  remains  to  consider  some  of  the  physical  operations  on 
the  surface  of  the  Globe,  to  which  we  owe  the  disposition  of 
these  precious  Relics  of  a  former  world,  in  a  state  that  af- 
fords us  access  to  inestimable  treasures  of  mineral  Coal. 

We  have  examined  the  nature  of  the  ancient  vegetables 
from  which  Coal  derives  its  origin,  and  some  of  the  processes 
through  which  they  passed  in  their  progress  towards  their 
mineral  state.  Let  us  now  review  some  farther  important 
geological  phenomena  of  the  carboniferous  strata,  and  see 
how  far  the  utility  arising  from  the  actual  condition  of  this 
portion  of  the  crust  of  the  globe,  may  afford  probable  evi- 
dence that  it  is  the  result  of  Foresight  and  Design. 

ft  was  not  enough  that  these  vegetable  remains  should 
have  been  transported  from  their  native  forests,  and  buried 
at  the  bottom  of  ancient  lakes  and  estuaries,  and  seas,  and 
there  converted  into  coal;  it  was  farther  necessary  that 
great  and  extensive  changes  of  level  should  elevate,  and 
convert  into  dry  and  habitable  land,  strata  loaded  with 
riches,  that  would  for  ever  have  remained  useless,  had  they 
continued    entirely    submerged    beneath    the    inaccessible 

*  Before  we  had  acquired  by  experiment  some  extensive  knowledge  of 
the  contents  of  each  series  of  formations  which  the  Geologist  can  readily 
identify,  there  was  no  d  priori  reason  to  expect  tlie  presence  of  coal  in  any 
one  Series  of  strata  rather  than  another.  Indiscriminate  experiments  in  search 
of  coal,  in  strata  of  every  formation,  were  tlierefore  desirable  and  proper,  in 
an  age  when  even  the  name  of  Geology  was  unknown;  but  the  continuance 
of  such  Experiments  in  districts  which  are  now  ascertained  to  be  composed  of 
non-carboniferous  strata  of  the  Secondary  and  Tertiary  Series,  can  no  longer 
be  justified,  since  the  accumulated  experience  of  many  years  has  proved, 
that  it  is  only  in  those  strata  of  the  Transition  Series  which  have  been  desig- 
nated as  the  Carboniferous  Order,  that  productive  Coal-mines  on  a  large 
scale  have  ever  been  discovered. 


394  IN  TROUGHS  OR  BASINS. 

depths,  wherein  they  were  formed ;  and  it  required  the  ex- 
ercise of  some  of  the  most  powerful  machinery  in  the  Dyna- 
mics of  the  terrestrial  globe,  to  effect  the  changes  that  were 
requisite  to  render  these  Elements  of  Art  and  Industry  ac- 
cessible to  the  labour  and  ingenuity  of  man.  Let  us  briefly 
examine  the  results  that  have  been  accomplished. 

The  place  of  the  great  Coal  formation,  in  relation  to  the 
other  series  of  strata,  is  shown  in  our  first  section  (PI.  1. 
Fig.  14.)  This  ideal  section  represents  an  Example  of  dis- 
positions which  are  repeated  over  various  areas  upon  the 
crust  of  the  Globe.* 

The  surface  of  the  Earth  is  found  to  be  covered  with  a 
series  of  irregular  depressions  or  Basins,  divided  from  one 
another,  and  sometimes  wholly  surrounded  by  projecting 
portions  of  subjacent  strata,  or  by  unstratified  crystalline 
rocks,  which  have  been  raised  into  hills  and  mountains,  of 
various  degrees  of  height,  direction  and  continuity.  On 
either  side  of  these  more  elevated  regions,  the  strata  dip 
with  more  or  less  inclination,  towards  the  lower  spaces  be- 
tween one  mountain  range  and  another.     (See  PI.  1.) 

This  disposition  in  the  form  of  Troughs  or  Basins,  which 
is  common  to  all  formations,  has  been  more  particularly 
demonstrated  in  the  Carboniferous  Series,  (See  PI.  65.  Fig^ 
1,  2,  3.)  because  the  valuable  nature  of  beds  of  Coal  often 
causes  them  to  be  wrought  throughout  their  whole  extent. 

One  highly  beneficial  result  of  the  basin-shaped  disposition 
of  the  Carboniferous  strata  has  been,  to  bring  them  all  to 
the  surface  around  the  circumference  of  each  Basin,  and  to 
render  them  accessible,  by  sinking  mines  in  almost  every 
part  of  their  respective  areas;  (See  PI.  65.  Figs.  1,  2,  3.) 
An  uninterrupted  inclination  in  one  direction  only,  would 
have  soon  plunged  the  lower  strata  to  a  depth  inaccessible 
to  man. 

•  The  Coal  Formation  is  here  represented  as  Iiaving  partaken  of  the  same 
elevatory  movements,  which  have  raised  the  strata  of  all  formations  towards. 
the  mountain  Ridges,  ths^t  separate  one  basin  from  another  basin. 


OTHER  FORMATIONS  DISPOSED  IN  BASINS.  395 

The  Basin  of  London,  (PI.  68.)  affords  an  example  of  a 
similar  disposition  of  the  Tertiary  strata  reposing  on  the 
<]Ihalk.  The  Basins  of  Paris,  Vienna,  and  of  Bohemia, 
afford  other  examples  of  the  same  kind.  (See  PI.  1.  Figg. 
24—28.) 

The  Secondary  and  Transition  strata  of  the  central  and 
North  Western  districts  of  England,  are  marginal  portions 
of  the  great  geological  Basin  of  Northern  Europe ;  and  their 
continuations  are  found  in  the  plains,  and  on  the  flanks  of 
mountain  regions  on  the  Continent.* 

These  general  dispositions  of  all  strata  in  the  form  of 
Troughs  or  Basins  have  resulted  from  two  distinct  systems 
of  operations,  in  the  economy  of  the  terraqueous  globe  ;  the 
first  producing  sedimentary  deposites,  (derived  from  the  ma- 

*  The  section  (PI.  66.  Fig.  1.)  shows  the  manner  in  which  the  Strata  of 
the  Transition  Series  are  continued  downwards  between  the  Coal  forma- 
tion and  the  older  members  of  the  Grauwacke  formation  through  a  series  of 
deposites,  to  which,  Mr.  Murchison  has  recently  assigned  the  name  of  the 
"  Silurian  system."  This  Silurian  Sj'stem  is  represented  by  No.  11,  in  our 
Section,  Fig.  1.  The  recent  labours  of  Mr.  Murchison  in  the  border  coun- 
ties of  England  and  Wales  have  ably  filled  up  what  has  hitherto  been  a 
blank  page,  in  the  history  of  this  portion  of  the  vast  and  important  Systems 
of  rocks,  included  under  the  Transition  series ;  and  have  shown  us  the 
links  which  connect  the  Carboniferous  system  with  the  older  Slaty  rocks. 
The  large  group  of  deposites  to  which  he  has  given  the  appropriate  name 
oi!  Silurian  system,  (as  they  occupy  much  of  the  Territory  of  the  ancient 
Silures,)  admits  of  a  four-fold  division,  which  is  expressed  in  the  section 
Pl.  66,  Fig,  1.  This  section  represents  the  exact  order  of  succession  of 
these  Strata  in  a  district,  which  must  henceforth  be  classic  in  the  Annals  of 
Geology, 

In  September,  1 835,  I  found  the  three  uppermost  divisions  of  this  system, 
largely  developed  in  the  same  relative  order  of  succession  on  the  south 
frontier  of  the  Ardennes,  between  the  great  Coal  formation  and  the  Grau- 
wacke. See  Proceedings  of  the  Meeting  of  the  Geological  Society  of  France 
at  Mezieres  and  Namur,  Sep,  1835,  Bulletin  de  la  Societc  Geologique  de 
France,  Tom  VII.)  The  same  subdivisions  of  the  Silurian  system,  maintain 
their  relative  place  and  importance  over  a  large  extent  of  the  mountainous 
district  of  the  Eifel,  between  the  Ardennes  and  the  Valley  of  the  Rhine ; 
and  are  continued  East  of  the  Rhine  through  great  part  of  the  duchy  of 
Nassau,  (StifRs  Gebirgs-Karte,  von  dcm  Herzogthum-Nassau.  Wiesbaden, 
1831.) 


396  THICKNESS  or  COAL  BEDS. 

terials  of  older  rocks,  and  from  chemical  precipitates,)  on 
those  lower  spaces  into  which  the  detritus  of  ancient  ele- 
vated regions  was  transported  by  the  force  of  water ;  the 
second  raising  these  strata  from  the  sub-aqueous  regions  in 
which  they  were  deposited,  by  forces  analogous  to  those 
whose  effect  we  occasionally  witness  in  the  tremendous 
movements  of  land,  that  form  one  of  the  phenomena  of  mo- 
dern Earthquakes. 

I  am  relieved  from  the  necessity  of  entering  into  details 
respecting  the  history  of  the  Coal  Fields  of  our  own  country, 
by  the  excellent  summary  of  what  is  known  upon  this  inte- 
resting subject,  which  has  recently  been  given  in  a  judicious 
and  well  selected  anonymous  publication,  entitled  The  His- 
tory and  Descriftion  of  Fossil  Fuel,  the  Collieries,  and  Coal 
Trade  of  Great  Britain.     London,  1835. 

The  most  remarkable  accumulations  of  this  important  ve- 
getable production  in  England  are  in  the  Wolverhampton 
and  Dudley  Coal  Field,  (PL  65,  Fig.  1,)  where  there  is  a 
bed  of  coal,  ten  yards  in  thickness.  The  Scotch  Coal  field 
near  Paisley  presents  ten  beds,  whose  united  thickness  is  one 
hundred  feet.  And  the  South  Welsh  Coal  Basin  (PI.  65, 
Fig.  2,)  contains,  near  Pontypool,  twenty-three  beds  of  coal, 
amounting  together  to  ninety-three  feet. 

In  many  Coal  fields,  the  occurrence  of  rich  beds  of  iron 
ore  in  the  strata  of  slaty  clay,  that  alternate  with  the  beds 
of  coal,  has  rendered  the  adjacent  districts  remarkable  as 
the  site  of  most  important  Iron  foundries  ;  and  these  locali- 
ties, as  we  have  before  stated,  (p.  65,)  usually  present  far- 
ther practical  advantage,  in  having  beneath  the  Coal  and 
Iron  ore,  a  substratum  of  Limestone,  that  supplies  the  third 
material  required  as  a  flux  to  reduce  this  ore  to  a  metallic 
state. 

Our  section,  PI.  65,  Fig.  1,  illustrates  the  result  of  these 
geological  conditions  in  enriching  an  important  district  in 
the  centre  of  England,  near  Birmingham,  with  a  continuous 
succession  of  Coal  mines,  and  Iron  foundries.  A  similar  re- 
sult has  followed  from  the  same   causes,  on  the  north-east 


EFFECTS  OF  COAL  ON  HUMAN  INDUSTRY.  397 

frontier  of  the  enormous  Coal  basin  of  South  Wales,  in  the 
well-known  Iron  foundries,  near  Pontypool  and  Merthyr 
Tydfil,*  (See  PI.  65,  Fig.  2.)  The  beds  of  shale  in  the 
lower  region  of  this  coal  field  are  abundantly  loaded  with 
nodules  of  argillaceous  iron  ore,  and  below  these  is  a  bed  of 
millstone  grit  capable  of  enduring  the  fire,  and  used  in  con- 
structing the  furnaces;  still  lower  is  the  limestone  necessary 
to  produce  the  fusion  of  the  ore.     PI.  65,  Figs.  1,  2. 

The  great  iron  foundries  of  Derbyshire,  Yorkshire,  and 
the  south  of  Scotland,  afford  other  examples  of  the  bene- 
ficial results  of  a  similar  juxtaposition,  of  rich  argillaceous 
iron  ore  and  coal. 

"  The  occurrence  of  this  most  useful  of  metals,"  says 
Mr.  Conybeare,t  "  in  immediate  connexion  with  the  fuel 
requisite  for  its  reduction,  and  the  limestone  which  facili- 

*  In  the  Transactions  of  the  Natural  History  Society  of  Northumberland, 
Durham,  and  Newcastle,  vol.  i.  p.  114,  it  is  stated  by  Mr.  Foster,  that  the 
quantity  of  iron  annually  manufactured  in  Wales  is  about  270,000  tons,  of 
which  about  three-fourths  are  made  into  bars,  and  one-fourth  sold  as  pigs 
and  castings.  The  quantity  of  coal  required  for  its  manufacture  will  be 
about  five  tons  and  a  half,  for  each  ton  of  iron.  The  annual  consumption 
of  coals  by  the  iron  works  will  therefore  be  about  1,500,000  tons.  The 
quantity  used  in  the  smelting  of  copper  ore  imported  from  Cornwall,  in  the 
manufacture  of  tin  plate,  forging  of  iron  for  various  purposes,  and  for  domes- 
tic uses,  may  be  calculated  at  350,000  tons,  which  makes  altogether  the 
annual  consumption  of  coal  in  Wales,  1,850,000  tons.  The  quantity  of  iron 
manufactured  in  Great  Britain  in  the  year  1827  was  690,000  tons.  The 
production  of  this  immense  quantity  was  thus  distributed. 


TONS. 

FURNACES, 

In  Staffordshire     - 

-    216,000    - 

-    95 

Shropshire  -     - 

-      78,000    - 

-    31 

S.Wales     -     - 

-    272,000    - 

-    90 

N,  Wales    -    - 

-      24,000    - 

.     12 

Yorkshire    •    - 

-      43,000    - 

-    24 

Derbyshire  -    - 

-      20,500    - 

-     14 

Scotland       •    - 

-      36,500    - 

-    18 

690,000  284 

+  Geology  of  England  and  Wales,  p.  333. 
VOL.  I. — 34 


398  POWER  OF  STEAM  ENGINES* 

tates  that  reduction,  is  an  instance  of  arrangement  so  hap- 
pily suited  to  the  purposes  of  human  industry,  that  it  can 
hardly  be  considered  as  recurring  unnecessarily  to  final 
causes,  if  we  conceive  that  this  distribution  of  the  rude 
materials  of  the  earth  was  determined  with  a  view  to  the 
convenience  of  its  inhabitants." 

Let  us  briefly  consider  what  is  the  effect  of  mineral  fuel, 
on  the  actual  condition  of  mankind.  The  mechanical  power 
of  coals  is  illustrated  in  a  striking  manner,  in  the  following 
statement  in  Sir  J.  F.  W.  Herschel's  admirable  Discourse 
on  the  study  of  Natural  Philosophy,  1831,  p.  59. 

"  It  is  well  known  to  modern  engineers  that  there  is  virtue 
in  a  bushel  of  coals,  properly  consumed,  to  raise  seventy 
millions  of  pounds  weight  a  foot  high.  This  is  actually  the 
average  efiect  of  an  engine  at  this  moment  working  in 
Cornwall. 

The  ascent  of  Mont  Blanc  from  Chamouni  is  considered, 
and  with  justice,  as  the  most  toilsome  feat  that  a  strong 
man  can  execute  in  two  days.  The  cumbustion  of  two 
pounds  of  coal  would  place  him  on  the  summit." 

The  power  which  man  derives  from  the  use  of  mineral 
coal,  may  be  estimated  by  the  duty*  done  by  a  pound,  or 

*  The  number  of  pounds  raised,  multiplied  by  the  number  of  feet  througli 
•which  they  are  lifted,  and  divided  by  the  number  of  bushels  of  coal  (each 
weighing  eighty-four  pounds)  burnt  in  raising  them,  gives  what  is  termed 
the  duty  of  a  steam  engine,  and  is  tlie  criterion  of  its  power.  (See  an  im- 
portant paper  on  improvements  of  the  steam  engine,  by  Davis  Gilbert,  Esq. 
Phil.  Trans.  1830,  p.  121.) 

It  is  stated  by  Mr.  J.  Taylor,  in  his  paper  on  the  duty  of  steam  engines, 
published  in  his  valuable  Records  of  Mining,  1829,  that  the  power  of  the 
steam  engine  has  within  the  last  few  years  been  so  advanced  by  a  series  of 
rapid  improvements,  that  whereas,  in  early  times,  the  duty  of  an  atmospheric 
engine  was  that  of  5,000,000  pounds  of  water,  lifted  one  foot  high  by  a  bushel 
of  coal,  the  duty  of  an  engine  lately  erected  at  Wheal  Towan  in  Cornwall, 
has  amounted  to  87,000,000  pounds;  or,  in  other  words,  that  a  series  of 
improvements  has  enabled  us  to  extract  as  much  power  from  one  bushel,  as 
originally  could  be  done  from  seventeen  bushels  of  coal.  Thus,  through  the 
instrumentality  of  coal  as  applied  in  the  steam  engine,  the  power  of  man 


MINES  AND  MACHINERY.  399 

any  other  given  weight  of  coal  consumed  in  working  a 
steam  engine ;  since  the  quantity  of  water  that  the  engine 
will  raise  to  a  given  height,  or  the  number  of  quarters  of 
corn  that  it  will  grind,  or,  in  short,  the  amount  of  any  other 
description  of  work  that  it  will  do,  is  proportionate  to  that 
duty.  As  the  principal  working  of  mineral  veins  can  only 
be  continued  by  descending  deeper  every  year,  the  diffi- 
culty of  extracting  metals  is  continually  on  the  increase, 
and  can  only  be  overcome  by  those  enlarged  powers  of  drain- 
over  matter  has  been  increased  seventeen  fold  since  the  first  invention  of 
these    engines;  and  increased  nearly  tlireefold  within  twenty  years. 

There  is  now  an  engine  at  the  mines  called  the  Fowey  Consols  in  Corn- 
wall, of  which  Mr.  Taylor  considers  the  average  duty,  under  ordinary 
circumstances,  to  be  above  9,000,000;  and  which  has  been  made  to  lift 
97,000,000  lbs.  of  water  one  foot  high,  with  one  bushel  of  coals. 

The  effect  of  these  improvements  on  the  operations  of  mines,  in  facilitating 
their  drainage,  has  been  of  inestimable  importance  in  extracting  metals  from 
depths  which  otherwise  could  never  have  been  reached.  Mines  which 
had  been  stopped  from  want  of  power,  have  been  reopened,  others  have 
been  materially  deepened,  and  a  mass  of  mineral  treasure  has  been  ren- 
dered available,  which  without  these  engines  must  have  been  for  ever  inac- 
cessible. 

It  results  from  these  rapid  advances  in  the  application  of  coal  to  the  pro- 
duction of  power,  and  consequently  of  wealth,  that  mining  operations  of  vast 
importance,  have  been  conducted  in  Cornwall  at  depths  till  lately  without 
example,  e.  g.  in  Wheal  Abraham,  at  242  fathoms,  at  Dolcoath  at  2.35  fa- 
thoms, and  in  the  Consolidated  Mines  in  Gwennap  at  290  fathoms,  the  latter 
mines  giving  daily  employment  to  no  less  than  2,500  persons. 

In  the  Consolidated  Mines,  the  power  of  nine  steam  engines,  four  of  which 
are  the  largest  ever  made,  having  cylinders  ninety  inches  in  diameter,  lifts 
from  thirty  to  fifty  hogsheads  of  water  per  minute,  (varying  according  to 
the  season)  from  an  average  depth  of  230  fathoms.  The  produce  of  these 
mines  has  lately  amounted  to  more  than  20,000  tons  of  ore  per  annum, 
yielding  about  2,000  tons  of  fine  copper,  being  more  than  one-seventh  of  the 
whole  quantity  raised  in  Britain.  Tiie  levels  or  galleries  in  these  mines  ex- 
tend in  horizontal  distance  a  length  of  about  43  miles.  (See  J.  Taylor's 
account  of  the  deptiis  of  mines,  third  report  of  British  Association,  1833,  p. 
428.) 

Mr.  J.  Taylor  farther  states,  (Lond.'  Edin.  Phil.  Mag.  Jan.  1836,  p.  67) 
that  the  steam  engines  now  at  work  in  draining  the  mines  in  Cornwall,  are 
equal  in  power  to  at  least  44,000  horses,  one-sixteenth  part  of  a  bushel  of 
coals  performing  the  work  of  a  horse. 


400  WORK  DONE  BY  STEAM  ENGINES. 

ing  which  Coal,  and  the  steam  engine,  alone  supply.  It 
would  be  quite  impossible  to  procure  the  fuel  necessary  for 
these  engines,  from  any  other  source  than  mineral  coal. 

The  importance  of  Coal  should  be  estimated,  not  only  by 
the  pecuniary  value  of  the  metals  thus  produced,  but  by  their 
farther  and  more  important  value  when  applied  to  the  in- 
tinitely  varied  operations  and  productions  of  machinery  and 
of  the  arts. 

It  has  been  calculated  that  in  this  country  about  15,000 
steam  engines  are  daily  at  w^ork  ;  one  of  those  in  Cornwall 
is  said  to  have  the  power  of  a  thousand  horses,*  the  power 
of  each  horse,  according  to  Mr.  Watt,  being  equal  to  that 
of  five  and  a  half  men;  supposing  the  average  power  of 
each  steam  engine  to  be  that  of  twenty-five  horses,  we 
have  a  total  amount  of  steam  power  equal  to  that  of  about 
two  millions  of  men.  When  we  consider,  that  a  large  pro- 
portion of  this  power  is  applied  to  move  machinery,  and 
that  the  amount  of  work  now  done  by  machinery  in  Eng- 
land, has  been  supposed  to  be  equivalent  to  that  of  between 
three  and  four  hundred  millions  of  men  by  direct  labour, 
we  are  almost  astounded  at  the  influence  of  Coal  and  Iron, 
and  Steam,  upon  the  fate  and  fortunes  of  the  human  race. 
"  It  is  on  the  rivers,"  (says  Mr.  Webster,)  "  and  the  boatman 
may  repose  on  his  oars ;  it  is  in  highways,  and  begins  to 
exert  itself  along  the  courses  of  land  conveyances ;  it  is  at 
the  bottom  of  mines,  a  thousand  (he  might  have  said,  1800) 
feet  below  the  earth's  surface  ;  it  is  in  the  mill,  and  in  the 

*  Wlien  Engineers  speak  of  a  25  horse  Engine,  they  mean  one  which 
would  do  the  work  of  that  number  of  horses  constantly  acting,  but  supposing 
that  the  same  horses  could  work  only  8  hours  in  every  24,  there  must  be  75 
horses  kept  at  least  to  produce  the  effect  of  such  an  Engine. 

The  largest  Engine  in  Cornwall  may,  if  worked  to  the  full  extent,  be 
equal  to  from  a  300  to  350  horse  power,  and  would  therefore  require  1000 
horses  to  be  kept  to  produce  the  same  constant  effect.  In  this  way  it  has 
been  said  than  an  Engine  was  of  1000  horse  power,  but  this  is  not  accord- 
ing to  the  usual  computation. 

Letter  from  J.  Taylor,  Esq.  to  Dr.  Buckland. 


VARIOUS  APPLICATIONS  OF  STEAM.  401 

workshops  of  the  trades.  It  rows,  it  pumps,  it  excavates,  it 
carries,  it  draws,  it  lifts,  it  hammers,  it  spins,  it  weaves,,  it 
prints."* 


*  As  there  is  no  reproduction  of  Coal  in  this  country,  since  no  natural 
causes  are  now  in  operation  to  form  other  beds  of  it;  whilst,  owing  to  the 
regular  increase  of  our  population,  and  the  new  purposes  to  which  the 
steam  engine  is  continually  applied,  its  consumption  is  advancing  at  a  rapid 
accelerating  rate  ;  it  is  of  most  portentous  interest  to  a  nation,  that  has  so 
krge  a  portion  of  its  inhabitants  dependant  for  existence  on  machinery,  kept 
in  action  only  by  the  use  of  Coal,  to  economize  this  precious  fuel.  1  can- 
not, therefore,  conclude  this  interesting  subject  without  making  some 
remarks  upon  a  practice  which  can  only  be  viewed  in  the  light  of  a  national 
calamity,  demanding  the  attention  of  the  legislature. 

We  have,  during  many  years  witnessed  the  disgraceful  and  almost  incre- 
dible fact,  that  more  than  a  million  chaldrons  per  annum,  being  nearly  one- 
tliird  part  of  the  best  coals  produced  by  the  mines  near  Newcastle,  have 
been  condemned  to  wanton  waste,  on  a  fiery  heap  perpetually  blazing  near 
the  mouth  of  almost  every  coal-pit  in  that  district. 

This  destruction  originated  mainly  in  certain  legislative  enactments,  pro- 
viding that  Coal  in  London  should  be  sold,  and  the  duty  upon  it  bo  rated, 
by  measure,  and  not  by  weight.  The  smaller  coal  is  broken,  the  greater  the 
space  it  fills ;  it  became,  therefore,  the  interest  of  every  dealer  in  Coal,  to 
buy  it  of  as  large  a  size,  and  to  sell  it  of  as  small  a  si^e  as  he  was  able. 
This  compelled  the  Proprietors  of  the  Coal-mines  to  send  the  large  Coal  only 
to  market,  and  to  consign  the  small  coal  to  destruction. 

In  the  year  1830,  the  attention  of  Parliament  was  called  to  these  evils; 
and  pursuant  to  the  Report  of  a  Committee,  the  duty  on  Coal  was  repealed, 
and  Coal  directed  to  be  sold  by  weight  instead  of  measure.  The  effect  of 
this  change  has  been,  that  a  considerable  quantity  of  Coal  is  now  shipped 
for  the  London  Market,  in  the  state  in  which  it  comes  from  the  pit;  that  afler 
landing  the  cargo,  the  small  coal  is  separated  by  screening  from  the  rest,^ 
and  answers  as  fuel  for  various  ordinary  purposes,  as  well  as  much  of  the 
Coal  which  was  sold  in  London  before  the  alteration  of  the  law. 

The  destruction  of  Coals  on  the  fiery  heaps  near  Newcastle,  although 
diminished,  still  goes  on,  however,  to  a  frightful  extent,  that  ought  not  to  be 
permitted ;  since  the  inevitable  consequence  of  this  practice,  if  allowed  to 
continue,  must  be,  in  no  long  space  of  time,  to  consume  all  the  beds  nearest 
to  the  surface,  and  rfeadiest  of  access  to  the  coast;  and  thus  enhance  the 
price  of  Coal  in  those  parts  of  England  which  depend  upon  the  Coal-field  of 
Newcastle  for  their  supply;  and  finally  to  exhaust  this  Coal-field,  at  a  period, 
aearer  by  at  least  one-third,  than  that  to  wiiich  it  would  last,, if  wisely  ecgK- 

34* 


402  COAL  THE  FOUNDATION  OF  STEAM-POWER. 

We  need  no  farther  evidence  to  show  that  the  presence 
of  coal  is,  in  an  especial  degree,  the  foundation  of  increasing 

nomized.  (See  Report  of  the  Select  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
on  the  state  of  the  Coal  Trade,  1830,  page  242,  and  Bakewell's  Introduction 
to  Geology,  1833,  page  183  and  343.) 

We  are  all  fully  aware  of  the  impolicy  of  needless  legislative  interference ; 
but  a  broad  line  has  been  drawn  by  nature  between  commodities  annually 
or  periodically  reproduced  by  the  Soil  on  its  surface,  and  that  subterranean 
treasure,  and  sustaining  foundation  of  Industry,  which  is  laid  by  Nature  in 
strata  of  mineral  Coal,  whose  amount  is  limited,  and  which,  when  once 
exhausted,  is  gone  for  ever.  As  the  Law  most  justly  interferes  to  prevent 
tlie  wanton  destruction  of  life  and  property,  it  should  seem  also  to  be  its  duty 
to  prevent  all  needless  waste  of  mineral  fuel ;  since  the  exhaustion  of  this  fuel 
would  irrecoverably  paralyze  the  industry  of  millions.  The  tenant  of  the  soil 
may  neglect,  or  cultivate  his  lands,  and  dispose  of  his  produce,  as  caprice  or 
interest  may  dictate;  the  surface  of  his  fields  is  not  consumed,  but  remains 
susceptible  of  tillage  by  his  successor;  had  he  the  physical  power  to  anni- 
hilate the  Land,  and  thereby  reflect  an  irremediable  injury  upon  posterity, 
the  legislature  would  justly  interfere  to  prevent  such  destruction  of  the 
future  resources  of  the  nation.  This  highly  favoured  Country,  has  been 
enriched  with  mineral  treasures  in  her  strata  of  Coal,  incomparably  more 
precious  than  mines  of  silver  or  of  gold.  From  these  sustaining  sources  of 
industry  and  wealth  let  us  help  ourselves  abundantly,  and  liberally  enjoy 
these  precious  gifts  of  the  Creator;  but  let  us  not  abuse  them,  or  by  wilful 
neglect  and  wanton  v;aste,  destroy  the  foundations  of  the  Industry  of  future 
Generations. 

Might  not  an  easy  remedy  for  this  evil  be  found  in  a  Legislative  enact- 
ment, that  all  Coals  from  the  Ports  of  Northumberland  and  Duriiam,  should 
be  shipped  in  the  state  in  which  they  come  from  the  Pit,  and  forbidding  by 
high  penalties  the  screening  of  any  Sea-borne  Coals  before  they  leave  the 
port  at  which  they  are  embarked.  A  law  of  this  kind  would  at  once  termi- 
nate that  ruinous  competition  among  the  Coal  owners,  which  has  urged  them 
to  vie  with  each  other  in  the  wasteful  destruction  of  small  Coal,  in  order  to 
increase  the  Profits  of  the  Coal  Merchants,  and  gratify  the  preference  for 
large  Coals  on  the  part  of  rich  consumers  ;  and  would  also  afford  the  Public 
with  a  supply  of  Coals  of  every  price  and  quality,  which  the  use  of  the  screen 
would  enable  him  to  accommodate  to  the  demands  of  the  various  Classes  of 
the  Community. 

A  farther  consideration  of  national  Policy  should  prompt  us  to  consider, 
how  far  the  duty  of  supporting  our  commercial  interest,  and  of  husband- 
ing the  resoilrccs  of  posterity  should  permit  us  to  allow  any  extensive 
exportation  of  Coal,  from  a  densely  peopled  manufacturing  country  like 
our  own ;  a  large  proportion  of  whose  present  wealtii  is  founded  on  ma- 


PROSPECTIVE  VIEW  TO  THE  USES  OF  MAN.  403. 

population,  riches,  and  pov^^er,  and  of  improvement  in  almost 
every  Art  which  administers  to  the  necessities  and  comforts 
of  Mankind.  And,  however  remote  may  have  been  the 
periods,  at  which  these  materials  of  future  beneficial  dis- 
pensations were  laid  up  in  store,  we  may  fairly  assume, 
that,  besides  the  immediate  purposes  effected  at,  or  before 
the  time  of  their  deposition  in  the  strata  of  the  Earth,  an 
ulterior  prospective  view  to  the  future  uses  of  Man,  formed 
part  of  the  design,  with  which  they  were,  ages  ago,  dis- 
posed in  a  manner  so  admirably  adapted  to  the  benefit  of 
the  Human  Race. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Proofs  of  Design  in  the  Effects  of  Disturbing  Forces  on  the 
Strata  of  the  Earth. 

In  the  proofs  of  the  agency  of  a  wise,  and  powerful,  and 
benevolent  Creator ,^  which  we  have  derived  from  the  Ani- 
mal and  Vegetable  kingdoms,  the  evidence  has  rested  chiefly 
on  the  prevalence  of  Adaptations  aTtd  Contrivances,  and  of 
Mechanisms  adapted  to  the  production  of  certain  ends, 
throughout  the  organic  remains  of  a  former  world. 

An  argument  of  another  kind  may  be  founded  on  the  Or- 
der, Symmetry,  and  Constancy,  of  the  Crystalline  forms  of 
the  unorganized  Mineral  ingredients  of  the  Earth.  But  in 
considering  the  great  geological  phenomena  which  appear 
in  the  disposition  of  the  strata,  and  their  various  accidents, 
a  third  kind  of  evidence  arises  from  conditions  of  the  earth, 

chinery,  which  can  be  kept  in  action  only  by  the  produce  of  our  native 
Coal  Mines,  and  whose  prosperity  can  never  survive  the  period  of  their  ex- 
haustion. 


4'04  ORDER  AMIDST  APPARENT  CONFUSION- 

which  are  the  result  of  disturbing  forces,,  that  appear  to  a 
certain  degree  to  have  acted  at  random  and  fortuitously. 

Elevations  and  subsidences,  inclinations  and  contortions-, 
fractures  and  dislocations,  are  phenomena,  which,  although 
at  first  sight  they  present  only  the  appearance  of  disorder 
and  confusion,  yet  when  fully  understood,  demonstrate  the 
existence  of  Order,  and  Method,  and  Design,  even  in  the 
operations  of  the  most  turbulent,  among  the  many  mighty 
physical  forces  which  have  affected  the  terraqueous  globe.* 

Some  of  the  most  important  results  of  the  action  of  these 
forces  have  been  already  noticed  in  our  fourth  and  fifth 
chapters;  and  our  first  Section,  PI.  1,  illustrates  their  bene- 
ficial effect,  in  elevating  and  converting  into  habitable  Lands, 
strata  of  various  kinds  that  were  formed  at  the  bottom  of 
the  ancient  Waters;  and  in  diversifying  the  surface  of  these 
lands  with  Mountains,  Plains,  and  Valleys,  of  various  pro- 

•  "Notwithstanding-  the  appearances  of  irregularity  and  confusion  in  the 
formation  of  the  crust  of  our  globe,  which  are  presented  to  the  eye  in  tl>e 
contemplation  of  its  external  features,  Geologists  have  been  able  in  nume- 
rous instances  to  detect,  in  the  arrangement  and  position  of  its  stratified 
masses,  distinct  approximations  to  geometrical  laws.  In  the  plienomena  of 
anticlinal  lines,  faults,  fissures,  mineral  veins,  &c.  such  laws  are  easily  recog- 
nised."  Hopkin's  Researches  in  Physical  Geology.  Trans.  Cambridge 
Phil.  See.  V.  6.  part  1.1835. 

"It  scarcely  admits  of  a  doubt,"  says  the  author  of  an  able  article  in  tlie 
Quarterly  Review,  (Sept.  1826,  p.  537,)  "that  the  agents  employed  in  ef- 
fecting this  most  perfect  and  systematic  arrangement  have  been  earthquakes, 
operating  with  diflTerent  degrees  of  violence,  and  at  various  intervals  of 
time  during  a  lapse  of  ages.  The  order  tliat  now  reigns  has  resulted  there- 
fore, from  causes  which  have  generally  been  considered  as  capable  only  of 
defacing  and  devastating  the  earth's  surface,  but  which  we  thus  find  strong 
grounds  for  suspecting  were,  in  the  primeval  state  of  the  globe,  and  periiaps 
still  are,  instrumental  in  its  perpetual  renovation.  The  effects  of  these  sub- 
terranean forces  prove  that  they  are  governed  by  general  laws,  and  that  these 
laws  have  been  conceived  by  consummate  wisdom  and  forethought." 

"  Sources  of  apparent  derangement  in  the  system  appear,  when  their 
operation  throughout  a  series  of  ages  is  brought  into  one  view,  to  have  pro- 
duced a  great  preponderance  of  good,  and  to  be  governed  by  fixed  general 
laws,  condusive,  perhaps  essential,  to  tiie  habitable  state  of.  ths  globe.>" 
]aiid,  p.  539. 


BENEFICIAL  EFFECTS  OF  UNDULATIONS.  405 

ductive  qualities,  and  variously  adapted  to  the  habitation  of 
Man,  and  the  inferior  tribes  of  terrestrial  animals. 

In  our  last  Chapter  we  considered  the  advantages  of  the 
disposition  of  the  Carboniferous  strata  in  the  form  of  Basins. 
It  remains  to  examine  the  farther  advantages  that  arise  from 
other  disturbances  of  these  strata  by  Faults  or  Fractures, 
which  are  of  great  importance  in  facilitating  the  operations 
of  Coal  mines ;  and  to  extend  our  inquiry  into  the  more  ge- 
neral effect  of  similar  Dislocations  of  other  strata,  in  pro- 
ducing convenient  receptacles  for  many  valuable  Metallic 
ores,  and  in  regulating  the  supplies  of  Water  from  the  inte- 
rior of  the  earth,  through  the  medium  of  Springs. 

I  have  elsewhere  observed*  that  the  occurrence  of  Faults 
and  the  hicUned  position  in  which  the  strata  composing  the 
Coal  measures  are  usually  laid  out,  are  facts  of  the  highest 
importance,  as  connected  with  the  accessibility  of  their  mi- 
neral contents.  From  their  inclined  position,  the  thin  strata 
of  Coal  are  worked  with  greater  facility  than  if  they  had 
been  horizontal ;  but  as  this  inclination  has  a  tendency  to 
plunge  their  lower  extremities  to  a  depth  that  would  be  in- 
accessible, a  series  of  Faults,  or  Traps,  is  interposed,  by 
which  the  component  portions  of  the  same  formation  are 
arranged  in  a  series  of  successive  tables,  or  stages,  rising 
one  behind  another,  and  elevated  continually  upwards  to- 
wards the  surface,  from  their  lowest  points  of  depression. 
(See  PI.  65.  Fig.  3.  and  PI.  66.  Fig.  2.)  A  similar  effect  is 
often  produced  by  Undulations  or  contortions  of  the  strata, 
which  give  the  united  advantage  of  inclined  position  and  of 
keeping  them  near  the  surface.  The  Basin-shaped  struc- 
ture which  so  frequently  occurs  in  coal  fields,  has  a  ten- 
dency to  produce  the  same  beneficial  consequences.  (See 
PI.  65  Figs.  1.  2.  3.) 

But  a  still  more  important  benefit  results  from'  the  occur- 
rence of  Faults  or  Fractures,-f  without  which  the  contents  of 

*  Inaugural  Lecture,  Oxford,  1819. 

t  "  Faults,"  says  Mr.  Conybeare,  "  consist  of  fissures  traversing  the 
strata,  extending  often  for  several  miles,  and  penetrating  to  a  depth,  in 


406  BENEFICIAL  EFFECTS  OF  FAULTS. 

many  deep  and  rich  mines  would  have  been  inaccessible.. 
(See  PI.  65.  Fig.  3.  and  PI.  66.  Fig.  2.)  Had  the  strata  of 
Shale  and  Grit,  that  alternate  with  the  Coal,  been  continu- 
ously united  without  fracture,  the  quantity  of  water  that 
would  have'  penetrated  from  the  surrounding  country,  into 
any  considerable  excavations  that  might  be  made  in  the  po- 
rous grit  beds,  would  have  overcome  all  power  of  machi- 
nery that  could  profitably  be  appUed  to  the  drainage  of  a 
mine ;  whereas  by  the  simple  arrangement  of  a  system  of 
Faults,  the  water  is  admitted  only  in  such  quantities  as  are 
within  control.  Thus  the  component  strata  of  a  Coal  field 
are  divided  into  insulated  masses,  or  sheets  of  rock,  of  irre- 
gular form  and  area,  not  one  of  which  is  continuous  in  the 
same  plane  over  any  very  large  district ;  but  each  is  usually 
separated  from  its  next  adjacent  mass,  by  a  dam  of  clay,, 
impenetrable  to  water,  and  filling  the  fissure  produced  by 
the  fracture  which  caused  the  Fault.  (See  PI.  66.  Fig..  2... 
and  PI.  1.  Figs.  I,— 1,1.) 

If  we  suppose  a  thick  sheet  of  Ice  to  be  broken  into  frag-- 
ments  of  irregular  area,  and  these  fragments  again  united,, 
after  receiving  a  slight  degree  of  irregular  inclination  to  the 
plane  of  the  original  sheet,  the  reunited  fragments  of  ice- 
will  represent  the  appearance  of  the  component  portions  of 
the  broken  masses,  or  sheets  of  Coal  measures  we  are 
describing.  The  intervening  portions  of  more  recent  Ice,  by 
which  they  are  held  together,  represent  the  clay  and  rub- 
bish that  fill  the  Faults,  and  form  the  partition  walls  that 
insulate  these  adjacent  portions  of  strata,  which  were 
originally  formed,  like  tlie  sheet  of  Ice,  in  one  continuous, 
plane.  Thus  each  sheet  or  incHned  table  of  Coal  measures, 
is  enclosed  by  a  system  of  more  or  less  vertical  walls  of 

very  few  instances  ascertained ;  they  are  accompanied  by  a  subsidence  of  the 
strata  on  one  side  of  their  line,  or  (whicli  amounts  to  the  same  thing)  an 
elevation  of  tliem  on  the  other;  so  that  it  appears,  tliat  the  same  force  which 
has  rent  the  rocks  thus  asunder,  has  caused  one  side  of  the  fractured  mass 
to  rise,  or  the  other  to  sink. — The  fissures  are  usually  filled  by  clay.'* 
Geology  of  England  and  Wales^  Part  I.  p<,348. 


FAULTS  PRODUCE  SPRINGS.  407 

broken  clay,  derived  from  its  argillaceous  shale  beds,  at  the 
moment  in  which  the  Fracture  and  Dislocation  took  place ; 
and  hence  have  resulted  those  joints  and  separations,  which, 
though  they  occasionally  interrupt  at  inconvenient  positions, 
and  cut  oft'  suddenly  the  progress  of  the  collier,  and  often 
shatter  those  portions  of  the  strata  that  are  in  immediate 
contact  with  them,  yet  are  in  the  main  his  greatest  safe- 
guard, and  are  indeed  essential  to  his  operations.* 

The  same  Faults  also,  while  they  prevent  the  Water  from 
flowing  in  excessive  quantities  in  situations  where  it  would 
be  detrimental,  are  at  the  same  time  of  the  greatest  service, 
in  converting  it  to  purposes  of  utility,  by  creating  on  the 
surface  a  series  of  Springs  along  the  line  of  Fault,  which 
often  give  notice  of  the  Fracture  that  has  taken  place  be- 
neath. This  important  effect  of  Faults  on  the  hydraulic 
machinery  of  the  globe  extends  through  the  stratified  rocks 
of  every  formation.     (See  PI.  69.  Fig.  2.)     It  is  also  pro- 

*  "If  a  field  of  coal  (says  Mr.  Buddie)  abounding  in  water,  was  not  in- 
tersected with  slip  Dikes,  the  working  of  it  might  be  impracticable,  as  the 
whole  body  of  water  which  it  might  contain  would  flow  uninterruptedly  into 
any  opening  which  might  be  made  into  it ;  these  Faults  operate  as  Coffer 
Dams,  and  separate  the  field  of  coal  into  districts." — Letter  from  Mr.  John 
Buddie,  an  eminent  Engineer  and  experienced  Coal  Viewer  at  Newcastle,  to 
Prof.  Buckland,  Nov.  .30, 1831. 

In  working  a  coal  Pit,  the  Miner  studiously  avoids  coming  near  a  Fault, 
knowing  that  if  he  should  penetrate  this  natural  barrier,  the  Water  from 
the  other  side  will  often  burst  in,  and  inundate  the  works  he  is  conducting 
on  the  dry  side  of  it. 

A  shaft  was  begun  about  the  year  1825,  at  Gosforth,  near  Newcastle, 
on  the  wet  side  of  the  90  fathom  Dike,  and  was  so  inundated  with  water 
that  it  was  soon  found  necessary  to  abandon  it.  Another  shaft  was  then 
begun  on  the  dry  side  of  the  dike,  only  a  few  yards  from  the  former, 
and  in  this  they  descended  nearly  200  fatlioms  witiiout  any  impediment  from 
water. 

Artificial  dams  are  sometimes  made  in  coal  mines  to  perform  the  office  of 
the  natural  barriers  which  Dikes  and  Faults  supply.  A  dam  of  this  kind 
was  lately  made  near  Manchester,  by  Mr.  Hulton,  to  cut  off  water  that  de- 
scended from  the  upper  region  of  porous  strata,  which  dipped  towards  his 
excavations  in  a  lower  region  of  the  same  strata,  the  continuity  of  which 
was  thus  artificially  interruptedo 


408  FUALTS  INTERSECT  METALLIC  VEINS. 

bable  that  most  of  the  Springs,  that  issue  from  unstratified 
rocks,  are  kept  in  action  through  the  instrumentaUty  of  the 
Faults  by  which  they  are  intersected. 

A  similar  interruption  of  continuity  in  the  masses  of  Pri- 
mary rocks,  and  in  the  rocks  of  intermediate  age  between 
these  and  the  Coal  formation,  is  found  to  occur  extensively 
in  the  working  of  metallic  veins.  A  vein  is  often  cut  off 
suddenly  by  a  Fault,  or  fracture,  crossing  it  transversely, 
and  its  once  continuous  portions  are  thrown  to  a  considera- 
ble distance  from  each  other.  This  line  of  fracture  is  usually 
marked  by  a  wall  of  clay,  formed  probably  by  the  abrasion 
of  the  rocks  whose  adjacent  portions  have  been  thus  dislo- 
cated. Such  faults  are  known  in  the  mines  of  Cornwall  by 
the  term  Jlucan,  and  they  often  produce  a  similar  advantage 
to  those  that  traverse  the  Coal  measures,  in  guarding  the 
miner  from  inundation,  by  a  series  of  natural  dams  travers- 
ing the  rock  in  various  directions,  and  intercepting  all  com- 
munication between  that  mass  in  which  he  is  conducting  his 
operations,  and  the  adjacent  masses  on  the  other  side  of  the 
flucan  or  dam.* 

It  may  be  added  also  that  the  Faults  in  a  Coal  field,  by 
interrupting  the  continuity  of  the  beds  of  coal,  and  causing 
their  truncated  edges  to  abut  against  those  of  the  unin- 
flammable strata  of  shale  or  grit,  afford  a  preservative 
against  the  ravages  of  accidental  Fire  beyond  the  area  of 
that  sheet  in  which  it  may  take  its  beginning ;  but  for  such 

*  "  My  object  is  rather  to  suggest  whether  the  arrangement  of  veins,  &c. 
does  not  argue  design  and  a  probable  connexion  with  other  phenomena  of 
our  Globe. 

"  Metalliferous  veins,  and  those  of  quartz,  &;c.  appear  to  be  channels  for 
the  circulation  of  the  subterraneous  water  and  vapour  ;  and  the  innumera- 
ble clay  veins,  or  '  flucan  courses '  (as  they  arc  termed  in  Cornwall,)  which 
intersect  them,  and  are  often  found  contained  in  them,  being  generally  im- 
pervious to  water,  prevent  their  draining  the  surface  of  the  higher  grounds 
as  they  otherwise  would,  and  also  facilitate  the  working  of  mines  to  a  much 
greater  depth  than  would  be  practicable  without  them." — R.  W.  Fox  on  the 
Mines  of  Cornwall,  Phil.  Trans.  1830,  p.  404. 


MINERAL  VEINS.  409 

a  provision,  entire  Coal  fields  might  be  occasionally  burnt 
out  and  destroyed. 

It  is  impossible  to  contemplate  a  disposition  of  things,  so 
w^ell  adapted  to  afford  the  materials  essential  to  supply  the 
first  wants,  and  to  keep  alive  the  industry  of  the  inhabitants 
of  our  earth ;  and  entirely  to  attribute  such  a  disposition  to 
the  blind  operation  of  Fortuitous  causes.  Although  indeed 
it  be  dangerous  hastily  to  have  recourse  to  Final  causes, 
yet  since  in  many  branches  of  physical  know^ledge,  (more 
especially  in  those  which  relate  to  organized  matter,)  the 
end  of  many  a  contrivance  is  better  understood,  than  the 
contrivance  itself,  it  would  surely  be  as  unphilosophical  to 
hesitate  at  the  admission  of  final  Causes,  when  the  general 
tenor  and  evidence  of  the  phenomena  naturally  suggest 
them,  as  it  would  be  to  introduce  them  gratuitously  unsup- 
ported by  such  evidence.  We  may  surely  therefore  feel 
ourselves  authorized  to  view,  in  the  Geological  arrange- 
ments above  described,  a  system  of  wise  and  benevolent 
Contrivances,  prospectively  subsidiaiy  to  the  wants  and 
comforts  of  the  future  inhabitants  of  the  globe;  and  extend- 
ing onwards,  from  its  first  Formation,  through  the  subse- 
quent Revolutions  and  Convulsions  that  have  affected  the 
surface  of  our  Planet. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Advantageous  Effect  of  Disturbing  Forces  in  giving  Origin 
to  Mineral  Veins:* 

A  FARTHER  rcsult  attending  the  Disturbances  of  the  sur- 
face of  the  Earth  has  been,  to  produce  Rents  or  Fissures 
in  the  Rocks  which  have  been  subjected  to  these  violent 

*  See  PI.  1.  Figs,  fe  l.—k  24,  and  PI.  67.  Fig.  3. 
VOL.  I. — 35 


410  VEINS  MOST  FREQUENT  IN  THE  OLDER  ROCKS. 

movements,  and  to  convert  them  into  receptacles  of  metallic 
ores,  accessible  by  the  labom's  of  man.  The  greater  part 
of  metalliferous  veins  originated  in  enormous  cracks  and 
crevices,  penetrating  irregularly  and  obliquely  downwards 
to  an  unknown  depth,  and  resembling  4he  rents  and  chasms 
which  are  produced  by  modern  Earthquakes.  The  general 
disposition  of  mineral  veins  wathin  these  narrow  fissures, 
will  be  best  understood  by  reference  to  our  first  Section. 
(PI.  1.  Figs,  k  1. — k  24.)  The  narrow  line  which  pass 
obliquely  from  the  lower  to  the  upper  portion  of  this  Section, 
represent  the  manner  in  which  Rocks  of  various  ages  are 
intersected  by  fissures,  which  have  become  the  Receptacles 
of  rich  Treasures  of  Metallic  Ore.  These  fissures  are 
more  or  less  filled  with  various  forms  of  metalliferous  and 
earthy  minerals,  deposited  in  successive,  and  often  corre- 
sponding layers,  on  each  side  of  the  vein. 

Metalhc  Veins  are  of  most  frequent  occurrence  in  rocks 
of  the  Primary  and  Transition  series,  particularly  in  those 
lower  portions  of  stratified  rocks  which  are  nearest  to 
unstratified  crystalline  rocks.  They  are  of  rare  occurrence 
in  Secondary  formations,  and  still  more  so  in  Tertiary 
strata.* 

*  M.  Dufrenoy  has  recently  shown  that  the  muies  of  HaBinatite  and  Spathic 
iron  in  the  Eastern  Pyrenees,  which  occur  in  Limestones  of  three  ages, 
referable  severally  to  the  Transition  Scries,  to  the  Lias,  and  to  the  Chalk, 
are  all  situated  in  parts,  where  these  Limestones  are  in  near  contact  with 
the  Granite;  and  he  considers  that  tiiey  have  all  most  probably  been  filled 
by  the  sublimation  of  mineral  matter  into  cavities  of  the  limestones,  at,  or 
soon  after  the  time  of  the  Elevation  of  the  Granite  of  this  part  of  the  Pyre- 
nees. The  period  of  this  elevation  was  posterior  to  the  deposite  of  the  Chalk 
formation,  and  anterior  to  that  of  the  Tertiary  Strata.  These  Limestones 
have  all  become  crystalline  where  they  are  in  contact  with  tlic  Granite;  and 
the  Iron  is  in  some  places  mixed  with  Copper  pyrites,  and  argentiferous 
galena.  (Memoire  sur  la  Position  dcs  Mines  de  Fer  de  la  Partie  orientale 
des  Pyrenees,  1834.) 

According  to  the  recent  observations  of  Mr.  C.  Darwin,  the  Granite 
of  the  Cordilleras  of  Chili  (near  the  Uspcllata  Pass)  which  forms  peaks 
of  a  height  probably  of  14,000  feet,  has  been  fluid  in  the  Tertiary  period; 


WIDTH  OF  METALLIC  VEINS.  411 

A  few  metals  are  occasionally,  though  rarely,  found  dis- 
seminated through  the  substance  of  Rocks.  Thus  Tin  is 
sometimes  found  disseminated  through  Granite,  and  Copper 
through  the  cupriferous  slate  at  the  base  of  the  Hartz,  at 
Mansfeld,  &c. 

The  most  numerous  and  rich  of  the  metallic  veins  in 
Gornw^all,  and  in  many  other  mining  districts,  are  found 
near  the  junction  of  the  Granite  with  the  incumbent  Slates. 
These  vary  in  width  from  less  than  an  inch  to  thirty  feet 
and  upwards  ;  but  the  prevailing  width,  both  of  Tin  and 
Copper  Veins  in  that  county,  is  from  on  to  three  feet;  and 
in  these  narrower  veins,  the  Ore  is  less  intermixed  with 
other  substances,  and  more  advantageously  wrought.* 

Several  hypotheses  have  been  proposed  to  explain  the 
manner  in  which  these  chasms  in  solid  rocks  have  become 
filled  with  metallic  ores,  and  with  earthy  minerals,  often  of 
a  different  nature  from  the  rocks  containing  them.  Werner 
supposed  that  veins  were  supplied  by  matter  descending 
into  them  from  above,  in  a  state  of  aqueous  solution ;  whilst 
Hutton,  and  his  followers,  imagined  that  their  contents  were 

and  Tertiary  strata  which  have  been  rendered  cr3'stallinc  by  its  heat,  and 
are  traversed  by  dikes  from  the  granitic  mass,  are  now  inclined  at  high 
angles,  and  form  regular,  and  conaplicated  anticlinal  lines.  These  same 
sedimentary  strata,  and  also  lavas  are  there  traversed  by  very  numerous  true 
metallic  veins  of  iron,  copper,  arsenic,  silver,  and  gold,  and  these  can  be 
traced  to  the  underlying  granite.  (Lond.  and  Edin.  Phil.  Mag.  N.  S.  Vol.  8. 
p.  158.) 

*  An  excellent  illustration  of  the  manner  in  which  metallic  veins  are  dis- 
posed in  the  Rocks  which  form  their  matrix,  may  be  found  in  Mr.  R.  Thomas's 
Geological  Report,  accompanied  by  a  Map  and  Sections  of  the  mining  district 
near  Redruth.  This  map  comprehends  the  most  interesting  spot  of  all  the 
mining  districts  in  Cornwall,  and  exhibits  in  a  small  compass  the  most  im- 
portant phenomena  of  metallic  veins,  slides,  and  cross  courses,  all  of  them 
penetrating  to  an  unknown  depth,  and  continuing  uninterruptedly  through 
Rocks  of  various  ages.  In  PI.  67,  Fig.  3,  I  have  selected  from  this  work  a 
section,  which  exhibits  an  unusually  dense  accumulation  of  veins  producing 
Tin,  Copper,  and  Lead. 

Much  highly  valuable  information  on  these  subjects  may  shortly  be  ex- 
pected from  the  Geological  Survey  of  Cornwall,  now  in  progress  by  Mr.  De 
la  Beche,  under  the  appointment  of  the  Board  of  Ordnance. 


412  THEORIES  OF  METALLIC  VEINS. 

injected  from  below,  in  a  state  of  igneous  fusion.  A  third 
hypothesis  has  been  recently  proposed,  which  refers  the 
filling  of  veins  to  a  process  of  Sublimation  from  subjacent 
)nasses  of  intensely  heated  mineral  matter,  into  apertures 
and  fissures  of  the  superincumbent  Rocks.*  A  fourth  hy- 
pothesis considers  veins  to  have  been  slowly  filled  by  Segre- 
gation, or  infiltration ;  sometimes  into  contemporaneous 
cracks  and  cavities,  formed  during  the  contraction  and 
consolidation  of  the  originally  soft  substances  of  the  rocks 
tiiemselves  ;  and  more  frequently  into  fissures  produced  by 
the  fracture  and  dislocation  of  the  solid  strata.  Segregation 
of  this  kind  may  have  taken  place  from  electro-chemical 
agency,  continued  during  long  periods  of  time.f 

*  In  the  London  and  Edin.  Phil.  Mag.  March,  1829,  p.  172,  Mr.  Patterson 
lias  publislied  the  result  of  his  experiments  in  making  artificial  Lead  Ore 
(Galena)  is  an  Earthen  tube,  highly  heated  in  the  middle.  After  causing 
the  steam  of  water  to  pass  over  a  quantity  of  Galena,  placed  in  the  hottest 
portion  of  this  tube,  the  water  was  decomposed,  and  all  the  Galena  had  been 
sublimed  from  the  heated  part  and  deposited  again  in  colder  parts  of  the  tube, 
in  cubes  which  exactly  resembled  the  original  Ore.  No  pure  Lead  was 
formed.  From  this  deposition  of  Galena,  in  a  highly  crystalline  form,  from 
its  vapour  in  contact  with  steam,  he  draws  the  important  conclusion,  that 
Galena  might,  in  some  instances,  have  been  supplied  to  mineral  veins  by 
sublimation  from  below. 

Dr.  Daubeny  has  found  by  a  recent  experiment  that  if  steam  be  passed 
througli  heated  Boracic  Acid,  it  takes  up  and  carries  along  with  it  a  portion 
of  the  Acid,  which  per  se  does  not  sublime.  This  experiment  illustrates  the 
sublimation  of  Boracic  Acid  in  volcanic  craters. 

t  The  observations  of  Mr.  Fox  on  the  electro-magnetic  properties  of 
metalliferous  veins  in  Cornwall,  (Phil.  Trans.  1830,  &c.)  seem  to  throw 
new  light  upon  this  obscure  and  difficult  subject.  And  the  experiments  of 
M.  Becquerel  on  the  artificial  production  of  crystallized  insoluble  compounds 
of  Copper,  Lead,  Lime,  &,c.  by  the  slow  and  long  continued  reaction 
and  transportation  of  the  elements  of  soluble  compounds,  (see  Becquerel, 
Traile  de  I'Electricite,  T,  i.  e,  7,  page  547,  1834,)  appear  to  explain  many 
chemical  changes  that  may  have  taken  place  under  the  influence  of  feeble 
electrical  currents  in  the  interior  of  the  earth,  and  more  especially  in 
Veins, 

I  have  been  favoured  by  Professor  Wheatstone  with  the  following  brief 
explanation  of  the  experiments  here  quoted. 

•'  When  two  bodies,  one  of  which   is  liquid,  react  very  feebly   on  each 


ADVANTAGEOUS  DISPOSITION  OF  METALS.  413 

The  total  quantity  of  all  ^metals  known  to  exist  near  the 
surface  of  the  Earth  (excepting  Iron,)  being  comparatively 
small,  and  their  value  to  mankind  being  of  the  highest  order' 
as  the  main  instruments  by  the  aid  of  which  he  emerges  from 
the  savage  state,  it  was  of  the  utmost  importance,  that  they 
should  be  disposed  in  a  manner  that  would  render  them  ac- 
cessible by  his  industry;  and  this  object  is  admirably  at- 
tained through  the  machinery  of  metallic  veins. 

Had  large  quantities  of  metals  existed  throughout  Rocks 
of  all  formations,  they  might  have  been  noxious  to  vegeta- 
tion ;  had  small  quantities  been  disseminated  through  the 
Body  of  the  Strata,  they  M'^ould  never  have  repaid  the  cost 
of  separation  from  the  matrix.  These  inconveniences  are 
obviated  by  the  actual  arrangement,  under  which  these  rare 
substances  are  occasionally  collected  together  in  the  natural 
Magazines  afforded  by  metallic  veins. 

In  my  Inaugural  Lecture  (page  12)  I  have  spoken  of  the 
evidences  of  design  and  benevolent  contrivance,  which  are 
apparent  in  the  original  formation  and  disposition  of  the 
repositories  of  minerals ;  in  the  relative  quantities  in  which 
they  are  distributed ;  in  the  provisions  that  are  made  to  ren- 
der them  accessible,  at  a  certain  expense  of  human  skill  and 
industry,  and  at  the  same  time  secure  from  wanton  destruc- 

otlier,  the  presence  of  a  third  body,  wiiich  is  either  a  conductor  of  electrici- 
ty, or  in  wliich  capillary  action  supplies  the  place  of  conductibility,  opens  a 
path  to  the  electricity  resulting  from  the  chemical  action,  and  a  voltaic  cur- 
rent is  formed  wliich  serves  to  augment  tJie  energy  of  the  chemical  action  of 
the  two  bodies.  In  ordinary  cliemical  actions,  combinations  are  effected  by 
the  direct  reaction  of  bodies  on  each  other,  by  which  all  their  constituents 
slmidtaneously  concur  to  the  general  effect;  but  in  the  mode  considered  by 
Becquerel  the  bodies  in  the  nascent  state,  and  excessively  feeble  forces, 
are  employed  by  which  the  molecules  are  produced,  as  it  were,  one  by 
one,  and  are  disposed  to  assume  regular  forms,  even  when  they  are  insolu^ 
ble,  because  the  number  of  the  molecules  cannot  occasion  any  disturbance  in 
their  arrangement.  By  the  application  of  tiiese  principles,  that  is,  by  the 
long-continued  action  of  very  feeble  electrical  currents,  this  author  has  shown 
that  many  crystallized  bodies,  hitherto  found  only  in  nature,  may  be  artifi- 
cially  obtained." 

35* 


414  DESIGN  IN  THE  DISPOSITION  OF  MINERALS. 

tion,  and  from  natural  decay;  in  the  more  general  disper- 
sion ot"  those  metals  which  are  most  important,  and  the  com- 
paratively rare  occurrence  of  others  which  are  less  so;  and 
still  farther  in  affording  the  means  whereby  their  compound 
ores  may  be  reduced  to  a  state  of  purity.* 

The  argument,  however,  which  arises  from  the  utility  of 
these  dispositions,  does  not  depend  on  the  establishment  of 
any  one  or  more  of  the  explanations  proposed  to  account 
for  them.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  means  whereby 
mineral  veins  were  charged  with  their  precious  contents; 
whether  Segregation,  or  Sublimation,  were  the  exclusive 
method  by  which  the  metals  were  accumulated;  or,  whether 
each  of  the  supposed  causes  may  have  operated  simulta- 
neously or  consecutively  in  their  production ;  the  existence 
of  these  veins  remains  a  fact  of  the  highest  importance  to 
the  human  race :  and  although  the  Disturbances,  and  other 
processes  in  which  they  originated,  may  have  taken  place 
at  periods  long  antecedent  to  the  creation  of  our  species, 
we  may  reasonably  infer,  that  a  provision  for  the  comfort 
and  convenience  of  the  last,  and  more  perfect  creatures  He 

*  I  owe  to  my  friend  Mr.  John  Taylor  the  suggestion  of  another  argu- 
ment, arising  from  the  phenomena  of  mines,  which  derives  much  value 
from  being  the  result  of  the  long  experience  of  a  practical  man  of 
science. 

♦'  There  is  one  argument,"  says  ;Mr.  Taylor,  "which  has  always  struck  me 
with  considerable  force,  as  proving  wise  and  beneficent  design,  to  be  drawn 
from  the  position  of  the  metals.  I  should  say  that  they  are  so  placed  as  to 
be  out  of  the  reach  of  immediate  and  improvident  exhaustion,  exercising  the 
utmost  ingenuity  of  man,  first  to  discover  them,  then  to  devise  means  of  con- 
quering the  difficulties  by  which  tiie  pursuit  of  them  is  surrounded. 

"  Hence  a  continued  supply  through  successive  ages,  and  hence  motives 
to  industry  and  to  the  exercise  of  mental  faculties;  from  which  our  greatest 
happiness  is  derived.  The  metals  might  have  been  so  placed  as  to  have  been 
all  easily  taken  away,  causing  a  glut  in  some  periods  and  a  deartli  in  others» 
and  they  might  have  been  accessible  without  thought,  or  ingenuity. 

"  As  they  are,  there  appears  to  be  that  accordance  with  the  perfect  ar- 
rangement of  an  all-wise  Creator,  which  it  is  so  beautiful  to  observe  and  to 
contemplate." 


PROSPECTIVE  PROVISION  FOP^  MAN.  415 

was  about  to  place  upon  its  surface,  was  in  the  providential 
contemplation  of  the  Creator,  in  his  primary  disposal  of  the 
physical  forces,  which  have  caused  some  of  the  earliest,  and 
most  violent  Perturbations  of  the  globe.* 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Adaptations  of  the  Earth  to  afford  supplies  of  water  through 
the  medium  of  Springs. 

As  the  presence  of  water  is  essential  both  to  animal  and 
vegetable  existence,  the  adjustment  of  the  Earth's  surface  to 
supply  this  necessary  fluid,  in  due  proportion  to  the  demand, 

*  That  part  of  the  History  of  Metals  which  relates  to  their  various  Pro- 
perties and  Uses,  and  their  especial  Adaptation  to  the  Physical  condition  of 
Man,  has  been  so  ably  and  amply  illustrated  by  two  of  my  Associates  in  this 
Series  of  Treatises,  that  I  have  more  Satisfaction  in  referring  my  readers  to 
the  Chapters  of  Dr.  Kidd  and  Dr.  Prout  upon  these  subjects  than  in  attempt- 
ing myself  to  follow  the  history  of  the  productions  of  metallic  veins,  beyond 
the  sources  from  which  they  are  derived  within  the  body  o&the  Earth. 

A  summary  of  the  all-important  Uses  of  Metals  to  Mankind  is  thus  briefly 
given,  by  one  of  our  earliest  and  most  original  writers  on  Physico-theology. 
"  As  for  Metals,  they  are  so  many  ways  useful  to  mankind,  and  those 
Uses  so  well  known  to  all,  that  it  would  be  lost  labour  to  say  any  thing  of 
them :  without  the  use  of  these  we  could  have  nothing  of  culture  or 
civility :  no  Tillage  or  Agriculture ;  no  Reaping  or  Mowing ;  no  Plough- 
ing or  Digging ;  no  Pruning  or  Loping;  no  Grafting  or  Insition;  no  me- 
chanical Arts  or  Trades ;  no  Vessels  or  Utensils  of  Household-stuff;  no  con- 
venient Houses  or  Edifices;  no  Shipping  or  Navigation.  What  a  kind  of 
barbarous  and  sordid  life  we  must  necessaril}'  have  lived,  the  Indians  in  the 
Northern  part  of  America  are  a  clear  demonstration.  Only  it  is  remarka- 
ble that  those  which  are  of  most  frequent  and  necessary  use,  as  Iron, 
Brass  and  Lead,  are  the  most  common  and  plentiful :  others  that  are  more 
rare,  may  better  be  spared,  yet  are  they  thereby  qualified  to  be  made  the 
common  measure  and  standard  of  the  value  of  all  other  commodities,  and  so 
to  serve  for  Coin  or  3Ione\',  to  which  use  they  have  been  employed  by  all 
civil  Nations  in  all  Ages."  Ray's  Wisdom  of  God  in  the  Creation.  Pt.  i. 
5th  ed.  1709,  p.  110. 


416  SPRINGS. 

affords  one  of  the  many  proofs  of  Design,  which  arise  out 
of  the  investigation  of  its  actual  condition,  and  of  its  rela- 
tions to  the  organized  beings  which  are  placed  upon  it. 

Nearly  three-fourths  of  the  Earth  being  covered  with  Sea. 
whilst  the  remaining  dry  land  is  in  need  of  continual  sup- 
plies of  water,  for  the  sustenance  of  the  animal  and  vegeta- 
ble kingdoms,  the  processes  by  which  these  supplies  are  ren- 
dered available  for  such  important  purposes,  form  no  incon- 
siderable part  of  the  beautiful  and  connected  mechanisms  of 
the  terraqueous  Globe. 

The  great  Instrument  of  communication  between  the  sur- 
face of  the  Sea,  and  that  of  the  Land,  is  the  Atmosphere,  by 
means  of  which  a  perpetual  supply  of  fresh-water  is  derived 
from  an  Ocean  of  salt  water,  through  the  simple  process  of 
evaporation. 

By  this  process,  water  is  incessantly  ascending  in  the  state 
of  Vapour,  and  again  descending  in  the  form  of  Dew  and 
and  Rain. 

Of  the  water  thus  supplied  to  the  surface  of  the  land,  a 
small  portion  only  returns  to  the  Sea  directly  in  seasons  of 
flood  through  the  channels  of  Rivers;* 

A  second  portion  is  re-absorbed  into  the  Atmosphere  by 
Evaporation ; 

A  third  portion  enters  into  the  composition  of  Animal  and 
Vegetable  bodies ; 

A  fourth  portion  descends  into  the  strata,  and  is  accumu- 
lated ia  their  interstices  into  subterraneous  sheets  and  reser- 
voirs of  water,  from  which  it  is  discharged  gradually  at  the 
surface  in  the  form  of  perennial  Springs,  that  form  the  ordi- 
nary  supply  of  Rivers. 

As  soon  as  Springs  issue  from  the  Earth,  their  waters  com- 
mence their  return  towards  the  Sea ;  rills  unite  into  stream- 

*  It  is  stated  by  M.  Arago,  that  one-third  only  of  the  water  which  fulls  in 
rain,  within  the  basin  of  the  Seine,  flows  by  that  river  into  the  sea:  the  re- 
maining two-thirds  either  return  into  the  atmosphere  by  evaporation,  or  go 
to  the  support  of  vegetable  and  animal  life,  or  find  their  way  into  the  sea  by 
subterraneous  passages.     Annuaire,  pour  I'An  1835. 


ALTERNATIONS  OF  CLAY  WITH  POROUS  STRATA.      417 

lets,  which,  by  farther  accumulation  form  rivulets  and  rivers, 
and  at  length  terminate  in  estuaries,  where  they  mix  again 
with  their  parent  ocean.  Here  they  remain,  bearing  part 
in  all  its  various  functions,  until  they  are  again  evaporated 
into  the  Atmosphere,  to  pass  and  repass  through  the  same 
Cycles  of  perpetual  circulation. 

The  adaptations  of  the  Atmosphere  to  this  important  ser- 
vice in  the  economy  of  the  Globe  belong  not  to  the  province 
of  the  geologist.  Our  task  is  limited  to  the  consideration  of 
the  mechanical  arrangements  in  the  solid  materials  of  the 
Earth,  by  means  of  which  they  co-operate  with  the  Atmos- 
phere, in  administering  to  the  circulation  of  the  most  impor- 
tant of  all  fluids. 

There  are  two  circumstances  in  the  condition  of  the  strata, 
which  exert  a  material  influence  in  collecting  subterraneous 
stores  of  water,  from  which  constant  supplies  are  regularly 
giving  forth  in  the  form  of  springs;  the  first  consists  in  the 
Alternation  of  porous  beds  of  sand  and  stone,  with  strata  of 
clay  that  are  impermeable  by  water;*  the  second  circum- 
stance is  the  Dislocation  of  these  strata,  resulting  from  Frac- 
tures and  Faults. 

The  simplest  condition  under  which  water  is  collected 
within  the  Earth,  is  in  superficial  beds  of  Gravel  which  rest 
on  a  sub-stratum  of  any  kind  of  Clay.  The  Rain  that  falls 
upon  a  bed  of  gravel  sinks  down  through  the  interstices  of 
the  gravel,  and  charges  its  lowest  region  with  a  subterra- 
neous sheet  of  water,  which  is  easily  penetrated  by  wells, 
that  seldom  fail  except  in  seasons  of  extreme  drought.  The 
accumulations  of  this  water  are  reheved  by  Springs,  over- 
flowing from  the  lower  margin  of  each  bed  of  gravel. 

A  similar  result  takes  place  in  almost  all  kinds  of  per- 
meable strata,  which  have  beneath  them  a  bed  of  clay,  or 
of  any  other  impermeable  material.  The  Rain  water  de- 
scends and  accumulates  in  the  lower  region  of  each  porous 
stratum  next  above  the  clay,  and  overflows  in  the  same 

*  See  p.  62. 


418  SPRINGS  CAUSED  BY  FAULTS. 

manner  by  perennial  springs.  Hence  the  numerous  alter- 
nations of  porous  beds  with  beds  impenetrable  to  water,  that 
occur  throughout  the  entire  series  of  stratified  rocks,  pro- 
duce effects  of  the  highest  consequence  in  the  hydraulic  con- 
dition of  the  Earth,  and  maintain  a  universal  system  of  na- 
tural Reservoirs,  from  which  water  overflows  incessantly  in 
the  form  of  Springs,  that  carry  with  them  fertility  into  the 
adjacent  valleys.     (See  PI.  67,  fig.  1,  S.) 

The  dischai'ges  of  water  from  these  reservoirs  are  much 
facilitated,  and  increased  in  number,  by  the  occurrence  of 
Faults  or  Fractures  that  intersect  the  strata.* 

There  are  two  systems  of  Springs  which  have  their  origin 
in  Faults,  the  one  supplied  by  water  descending  from  the 
higher  regions  of  strata  adjacent  to  a  fault,  by  which  it  is 
simply  intercepted  in  its  descent,  and  diverted  to  the  surface 
in  the  form  of  perennial  springs;  (see  PI.  67,  fig.  1,  H.)  the 
other  maintained  by  water  ascending  from  below  by  Hydro- 
static pressure,  (as  in  Artesian  Wells,)  and  derived  from 
strata,  which  at  their  contact  with  the  fault,  are  often  at  a 
great  depth ;  the  water  is  conducted  to  this  depth  either  by 
percolation  through  pores  and  crevices,  or  by  small  subter- 
raneous channels  in  these  strata,  from  more  elevated  distant 
regions  whence  it  descends,  until  its  progress  is  arrested 

•  Mr.  Townsend,  in  his  Chapter  on  Springs,  states,  that  there  are  six  dis- 
tinct systems  of  springs  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Bath,  wliich  issue  from  as 
many  regular  strata  of  subterraneous  water,  formed  by  fiUralion  through 
either  sand  or  porous  rocks,  and  placed  each  upon  its  subjacent  bed  of  clay. 
From  these,  one  system  of  springs  is  produced  by  overflowing  in  the  direction 
tpwards  which  the  strata  are  inclined,  or  have  their  dip,-  whilst  another  sys- 
tem results  from  the  dislocation  of  the  strata,  and  breaks  out  laterally  through 
the  fractures  by  which  they  are  intersected. 

It  is  stated  by  Mr.  Hopkins,  (Phil.  Mag.  Aug.  1834,  p.  131,)  that  all 
the  great  springs  in  the  Limestone  District  of  Derbyshire  are  found  in 
conjunction  with  great  Faults,  "  I  do  not  recollect  (says  he)  a  single  ex- 
ception to  this  rule,  for  I  believe  in  every  instance  where  I  observed  a 
powerful  spring,  I  had  independent  evidence  of  the  existence  of  a  great 
fault," 


ARTESIAN  WELLS.  419 

by  the  Fault.  (See  PI.  67.  Fig.  2,  d,  and  PI.  69.  Fig.  2.  H. 
L.) 

Besides  the  advantages  that  arise  to  the  whole  of  the  Ani- 
mal Creation,  from  these  dispositions  in  the  structm'e  of  the 
Earth,  whereby  natural  supplies  of  water  are  multiplied 
almost  to  infinity  over  its  surface,  a  farther  result,  of  vast 
and  peculiar  importance  to  Man,  consists  in  the  facilities 
which  are  afforded  him  of  procuring  arii^cm/ wells,  through- 
out those  parts  of  the  world  which  are  best  adapted  for 
human  habitation. 

The  Causes  of  the  rise  of  water  in  ordinary  artificial  wells, 
are  the  same  that  regulate  its  discharge  from  the  natural 
apertures  which  give  origin  to  springs ;  and  as  both  these 
effects  will  be  most  intelligibly  exemplified,  by  a  considera- 
tion of  the  causes  of  the  remarkable  ascent  of  water  to  the 
surface,  and  often  above  the  surface,  in  those  peculiar  per- 
forations which  are  called  Artesian  Wells,  our  attention  may 
here  be  profitably  directed  to  their  history. 

Artesian  Wells. 

The  name  of  Artesian  Wells  is  applied  to  perpetually 
flowing  artificial  fountains,  obtained  by  boring  a  small  hole, 
through  strata  that  are  destitute  of  water,  into  lower  strata 
loaded  with  subterraneous  sheets  of  this  important  fluid, 
which  ascends  by  hydrostatic  pressure,  through  pipes  let 
down  to  conduct  it  to  the  surface.  The  name  is  derived 
from  Artois  (the  ancient  Artesium,)  where  the  practice  of 
making  such  wells  has  for  a  long  time  extensively  pre- 
vailed.* 

*  The  manner  of  action  of  an  Artesian  Well  is  explained  by  tlie  Sec- 
lion  PI.  69.  Fig-.  3,  copied  from  Mr.  Hericart  de  Thury's  representation  of 
a  double  Fountain  at  St.  Ouen,  wliicli  brings  up  water,  from  two  water- 
bearing strata  at  different  levels  below  the  surface.  In  this  double  foun- 
tain, the  ascending  forces  of  the  water  in  the  two  strata  A  and  B  are  dif- 
ferent:  the  water  from  the  lowest  stratum  B  rising  to  the  highest  level 
I";  that   from  the  upper  stratum  A  rising  only   to    a'.     The  water  from 


420  ARTESIAN  WELLS. 

Artesian  Wells  are  most  available,  and  of  the  greatest 
use,  in  low  and  level  districts  where  water  cannot  be  obtain- 
ed from  superficial  springs,  or  by  ordinary  wells  of  mode- 
rate depth.  Fountains  of  this  kind  are  known  by  the  name 
of  BIoiv  ivells,  on  the  Eastern  coast  of  Lincolnshire,  in  the  low 
district  covered  by  clay  between  the  Wolds  of  Chalk  near 
Louth,  and  the  Sea-shore.  These  districts  were  without  any 
springs,  until  it  was  discovered  that  by  boring  through  this 
clay  to  the  subjacent  Chalk,  a  fountain  might  be  obtained, 
which  would  flow  incessantly  to  the  height  of  several  feet 
above  the  surface. 

In  the  King's  well  at  Sheerness  sunk  in  1781  through  the 
London  clay,  into  sandy  strata  of  the  Plastic  clay  formation, 
to  the  depth  of  330  feet,  the  water  rushed  up  violently  from 
the  bottom,  and  rose  within  eight  feet  of  the  surface.  {See 
Phil.  Trans.  1784.)  In  the  years  1828  and  1829  two  more 
perfect  Artesian  wells  were  sunk  nearly  to  the  same  depth 
in  the  Dock  yards  at  Portsmouth  and  Gosport. 

Wells  of  this  kind  have  now  become  frequent  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  London,  where  perpetual  Fountains  are  in  some 
places  obtained  by  deep  perforations  through  the  London 

both  strata  is  thus  brought  to  the  surface  by  one  Bore  Hole  of  sufficient 
size  to  contain  a  double  pipe,  viz.  a  smaller  pipe  included  within  a  larger 
one,  with  an  interval  between  them  for  the  passage  of  water ;  thus,  the 
smaller  pipe  b  brings  up  the  water  of  the  lower  stratum  B,  to  the  highest 
level  of  the  fountain  b",  whilst  the  larger  pipe  a,  brings  up  the  water  from 
stratum  A  to  the  lower  level  a':  both  these  streams  are  employed  to  supply 
the  Canal-basin  at  St.  Ouen,  above  the  level  of  the  Seine.  Should  the  lower 
stratum  B  contain  pure  water,  and  that  in  the  upper  stratum  A  be  tainted, 
tiie  pure  water  might  by  this  apparatus  be  brought  to  the  surface  through 
the  impure,  without  contact  or  contamination. 

In  common  cases  of  Artesian  wells,  where  a  single  pipe  alone  is  used,  if 
the  Boring  penetrates  a  bed  containing  impure  water;  it  is  continued  deeper 
until  it  arrives  at  another  stratum  containing  pure  water ;  the  bottom  of  the 
pipe  being  plunged  into  this  pure  water,  it  ascends  within  it  and  is  conduct- 
ed to  the  surface  through  whatever  impurities  may  exist  in  the  superior 
strata.  The  impure  water,  through  which  the  boring  may  pass  in  its 
descent,  being  e.^cluded  by  the  pipe  from  mixing  with  the  pure  water 
ascending  from  below. 


ARTESIAN  WELLS.  421 

clay,  into  porous  beds  of  the  Plastic-clay  formation,  or  into 
the  Chalk.* 

Important  treatises  upon  the  subject  of  Artesian  Wells 
have  lately  been  published  by  M.  Hericart  de  Thury  and  M. 
Arago  in  France,  and  by  M.  Von  Bruckmann  in  Germany.f 

*  One  of  the  first  Artesian  wells  near  London  was  that  of  Norland  House 
on  the  N.  W.  of  Holland  House,  made  in  1794,  and  described  in  Phil.  Trans. 
London,  1797.  The  water  of  this  well  was  derived  from  sandy  strata  of  the 
plastic-clay  formation,  but  so  much  obstruction  by  sand  attends  the  admis- 
sion of  water  to  the  pipes  from  this  formation,  that  it  is  now  generally  found 
more  convenient  to  pass  lower  through  these  sandy  strata,  and  obtain  water 
from  the  subjacent  chalk.  Examples  of  wells  that  rise  to  the  surface  of  the 
lowest  tract  of  land  on  the  W.  of  London  may  be  seen  in  the  Artesian  foun- 
tain in  front  of  the  Episcopal  palace  at  Fulham,  and  in  the  garden  of  the  Hor- 
ticultural Society.  Many  such  fountains  have  been  made  in  the  Town  of 
Brentford,  from  which  the  water  rises  to  the  height  of  a  few  feet  above  the 
surface. 

This  height  is  found  to  diminish  as  the  number  of  perpetually  flowing 
fountains  increases;  and  a  general  application  of  them  would  discharge  the 
subjacent  water  so  much  more  rapidly  than  it  arrives  through  the  inter- 
stices of  the  chalk,  that  fountains  of  this  kind  when  numerous  would  cease 
to  overflow,  although  the  water  within  them  would  rise  and  maintain  its 
level  nearly  at  the  surface  of  the  land. 

The  Section,  PL  G8  is  intended  to  explain  the  cause  of  the  rise  of  water 
in  Artesian  Wells  in  the  Basin  of  London,  from  permeable  strata  in  the 
Plastic-clay  formation,  and  subjacent  Chalk.  The  water  in  all  these 
strata  is  derived  from  the  rain,  which  falls  on  those  portions  of  their  surface 
that  are  not  covered  by  the  London  Clay,  and  is  upheld  by  clay  beds  of  the 
Gault,  beneath  the  Chalk  and  Fire-stone.  Thus  admitted  and  sustained,  it 
accumulates  in  the  joints  and  crevices  of  these  strata  to  the  line  A,  B.  at 
which  it  overflows  by  springs,  in  valleys,  such  as  that  represented  in  our 
section  under  C.  Below  this  line,  all  the  permeable  strata  must  be  perma- 
nently filled  with  a  subterranean  sheet  of  water,  except  where  faults  and 
other  disturbing  causes  afford  local  sources  of  relief.  Where  these  reliefs 
do  not  interfere,  the  horizontal  line  A,  B,  represents  the  level  to  which  water 
would  rise  by  hydrostatic  pressure,  in  any  perforations  through  the  London 
Clay,  either  into  sandy  beds  of  the  Plastic-clay  formation,  or  into  the  Chalk; 
such  as  those  represented  at  D.  E.  F.  G.  H.  I.  If  the  Perforation  be  made 
at  G.  or  H.  where  the  surface  of  the  country  is  below  the  line  A.  B.  t!ic 
water  will  rise  in  a  perpetually  flowing  Artesian  fountain,  as  it  does  in  the 
valley  of  the  Thames  between  Brentford  and  London. 

+  See  Hericart  de  Thury's  Considerations  sur  la  cause  du  Jaillissement 
des  Eaux  des  puits  fores,  1839. 
VOL.  I. — 36 


422  ARTESIAN  WELLS. 

It  appears  that  there  are  extensive  districts  in  various  parts 
of  Europe,  where,  under  certain  conditions  of  geological 
structure,  and  at  certain  levels,  artificial  fountains  will  rise 
to  the  surface  of  strata  which  throw  out  no  natural  springs,* 

Notices  scientifiques  par  M.  Arago.     Annuaire,  pour  f'An.  1835. 

Von  Bruckmann  xlber  Artesische  Brunnen.     Heilbronn  am  Neckar,  1833, 

*  The  Diagrams  in  PI.  69.  Figs.  1  and  2.  are  constructed  to  illustrate  the 
causes  of  the  rise  of  water  in  natural,  or  artificial  springs,  within  basin- 
shaped  strata  that  are  intersected  by  the  side  of  Valleys,  or  traversed  by 
Faults, 

Supposing  a  Basin  (PI,  69  Fig.  1.)  composed  of  Permeable  strata,  E,  F,  G. 
alternating  with  impermeable  strata,  H,  I,  K.  L.  to  have  the  margin  of  all 
these  strata  continuous  in  all  directions  at  one  uniformly  horizontal  level,  A, 
B,  the  water  which  falls  in  rain  upon  the  extremities  of  the  strata  E,  F,  G, 
would  accumulate  within  them,  and  fill  all  their  interstices  with  water  up  to 
the  line  A,  B;  and  if  a  Pipe  were  passed  down  through  the  upper,  into  either 
of  the  lower  strata,  at  any  point  within  the  circumference  of  this  basin,  the 
•water  would  rise  within  it  to  the  horizontal  line  A,  B,  which  represents  the 
general  level  of  the  margin  of  the  Basin.  A  disposition  so  regular  never  exists 
in  nature,  the  extremities  or  outcrops  of  each  stratum  are  usually  at  different 
levels,  (Fig.  1,  a.  c.  e.  g.)  In  such  cases  the  line  a.  b.  represents  the  water 
level  within  the  stratum  G;  below  this  line,  water  would  be  permanently 
present  in  G ;  it  could  never  rise  above  it,  being  relieved  by  springs  that 
would  overflow  at  a.  The  line  c,  d.  represents  the  level  above  which  the 
water  could  never  rise  in  the  stratum  F ;  and  the  line  e,  f,  represents  the 
highest  water  level  within  the  stratum  E.  The  discharge  of  all  rain-waters 
that  percolated  the  strata,  E,  F,  G,  thus  being  effected  by  overflowing  at 
e.  c.  a. 

If  common  wells  were  perforated  from  the  surface,  i.  k,  1.  into  the  strata 
G,  F,  E,  the  water  would  rise  within  them  only  to  the  horizontal  lines  a  b, 
c  d,  e  f. 

The  upper  porous  stratum  C,  also,  would  be  permanently  loaded  with  water 
below  the  horizontal  line,  g,  h,  and  permanently  dry  above  it. 

The  theoretical  section,  PI.  69.  fig.  2.  represents  a  portion  of  a  basin  inter- 
sected by  the  fault  H,  L,  filled  with  matter  impermeable  to  water.  Sup- 
posing the  lower  extremities  of  the  inclined  and  permeable  strata  N,  O,  P, 
Q,  R,  to  be  intersected  by  the  fault  or  dike  H,  L,  the  rain-water  which 
enters  the  uncovered  portion  of  these  strata  between  the  impermeable  clay 
beds,  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  would  accumulate  in  the  permeable  strata  up  to  the 
horizontal  lines,  AA",  BB",  CC",  DD",  EE".  If  an  Artesian  well  was 
perforated  into  each  of  these  strata  to  A',  B',  C,  D',  E',  through  the  clay 
beds  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  the  water  from  these  beds  would  rise  within  a  pipe  ascend- 
ing from  the  perforations  of  the  levels  A",  B",  C",  D",  E", 


ARTESIAN  WELLS.  423 

and  will  afford  abundant  supplies  of  water  for  agricultural 
and  domestic  purposes  and  sometimes  even  for  moving  ma- 
chinery. The  quantity  of  water  thus  obtained  in  Artois  is 
often  sufficient  to  turn  the  wheels  of  Corn-mills. 

In  the  Tertiary  basin  of  Perpignan  and  the  chalk  of 
Tours,  there  are  almost  subterranean  rivers  having  enor- 
mous  upward  pressure.  The  Water  of  an  Artesian  well  in 
Roussillon  rises  from  30  to  50  feet  above  the  surface.  At 
Perpignan  and  Tours,  M.  Arago  states  that  the  water  rushes 
up  with  so  much  force,  that  a  Cannon-ball  placed  in  the 
Pipe  of  an  Artesian  well  is  violently  ejected  by  the  ascend- 
ing stream. 

In  some  places  application  has  been  made  to  economical 
purposes,  of  the  higher  temperature  of  the  water  rising 
from  great  depths.  In  Wurtemberg  Von  Bruckmann  has 
applied  the  warm  water  of  Artesian  wells  to  heat  a  paper 
manufactory  at  Heilbronn,  and  to  prevent  the  freezing  of 
common  water  around  his  mill  wheels.  The  same  practice 
is  also  adopted  in  Alsace,  and  at  Constadt  near  Stuttgard. 
It  has  even  been  proposed  to  apply  the  heat  of  ascending 
springs  to  the  warming  of  green  houses.     Artesian  wells 

These  theoretical  Results  can  never  occur  to  the  extent  here  represented, 
in  consequence  of  the  intersections  of  the  strata  by  valleys  of  Denudation, 
the  irregular  interposition  of  Faults,  and  the  varying  condition  of  the  matter 
composing  Dikes, 

If  a  valley  were  excavated  in  the  stratum  M  below  A",  the  water  of  this 
stratum  would  overflow  into  the  bottom  of  this  valley,  and  would  never  rise 
on  tlie  side  of  the  fault  so  high  as  the  level  H. 

Wherever  the  contact  of  the  Dike  H,  L,  with  the  strata  M,  N,  O,  P,  Q,  R, 
that  are  intersected  by  it,  is  imperfect,  an  issue  is  formed,  through  which  the 
water  from  these  inclined  strata  will  be  discharged  at  the  surface  by  a  na- 
tural Artesian  well ;  hence  a  series  of  Artesian  springs  will  mark  the  line 
of  contact  of  the  Dike  with  the  fractured  edges  of  tlic  strata  from  which 
tlie  water  rises,  and  the  level  of  the  water  within  these  strata  will  be  always 
approximating  to  that  of  the  springs  at  H ;  but  as  the  permeability  of  Dikes 
varies  in  different  parts  of  their  course,  their  effect  in  sustaining  water  with- 
in the  strata  adjacent  to  them,  must  be  irregular,  and  the  water  line  within 
these  strata  will  vary  according  to  circumstances,  between  the  highest  pos- 
sible levels,  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  and  the  lowest  possible  level  H. 


424  ARTESIAN  WELLS. 

have  long  been  used  in  Italy,  in  the  duchy  of  Modena; 
they  have  also  been  successfully  applied  in  Holland,  China,* 
and  N.  America.  By  means  of  similar  wells,  it  is  probable 
that  water  may  be  raised  to  the  surface  of  many  parts  of  the 
sandy  deserts  of  Africa  and  Asia,  and  it  has  been  in  con- 
templation to  construct  a  series  of  these  wells  along  the 
main  road  which  crosses  the  Isthmus  of  Suez. 

I  have  felt  it  important  thus  to  enter  into  the  history  of 
Artesian  Wells,  because  their  more  frequent  adoption  will 
add  to  the  facilities  of  supplying  fresh  Water  in  many  re- 
gions of  the  Earth,  particularly  in  low  and  level  districts, 
where  this  prime  necessary  of  Life  is  inaccessible  by  any 
other  means;  and  because  the  theory  of  their  mode  of  ope- 
ration explains  one  of  the  most  important  and  most  common 
contrivances  in  the  subterraneous  economy  of  the  Globe, 
for  the  production  of  natural  springs. 

By  these  compound  results  of  the  original  disposition  of 
the  strata  and  their  subsequent  disturbances,  the  entire  Crust 
of  the  Earth  has  become  one  grand  and  connected  Appa- 

*  An  economical  and  easy  method  of  sinking  Artesian  Wells  and  borings 
for  coal,  &c.,  has  recently  been  practised  near  SaarbrUck,  by  M.  Sellow.  In- 
stead of  the  tardy  and  costly  process  of  boring  with  a  number  of  Iron  Rods 
screwed  to  each  other,  one  heavy  Bar  of  cast  Iron  about  six  feet  long  and 
four  inches  in  diameter,  armed  at  its  lower  end  with  a  cutting  Chisel,  and 
surrounded  by  a  hollow  chamber,  to  receive  through  valves,  and  bring  up  the 
detritus  of  the  perforated  stratum,  is  suspended  from  the  end  of  a  stroug 
rope,  which  passes  over  a  wheel  or  pulley  fixed  above  the  spot  in  which  the 
hole  is  made.  As  this  rope  is  raised  up  and  down  over  the  wheel,  its  tortiou 
gives  to  the  Bar  of  Iron  a  circular  motion,  sufficient  to  vary  the  place  of  the 
cutting  Chisel  at  each  descent. 

When  the  chamber  is  full,  the  whole  apparatus  is  raised  quickly  to  the 
surface  to  be  unloaded,  and  is  again  let  down  by  the  action  of  the  same 
wheel.  This  process  has  been  long  practised  in  China,  from  whence  the  re- 
port of  its  use  has  been  brougjit  to  Europe.  The  Chinese  are  said  to  have 
bored  in  tiiis  manner  to  tlie  depth  of  1000  feet.  M.  Sellow  has  with  this 
instrument  lately  made  perforations  18  inches  in  diameter,  and  several  hun- 
dred feet  deep,  for  the  purpose  of  ventilating  coal  mines  at  Saarbriick.  The 
general  substitution  of  this  method  for  the  costly  process  of  boring  with  rods* 
of  iron,  may  be  of  much  public  importance,  especially  where  water  can  only 
be  obtained  from  groat  depths. 


ARTESIAN  WELLS.  425 

ratus  of  Hydraulic  Machinery,  co-operating  incessantly  with 
the  Sea  and  with  the  Atmosphere,  to  dispense  unfaihng  sup- 
plies of  fresh  Water  over  the  habitable  surface  of  the  Land.* 

Among  the  incidental  advantages  arising  to  Man  from 
the  introduction  of  Faults  and  Dislocations  of  the  strata,  into 
the  system  of  curious  arrangements  that  pervade  the  sub- 
terranean economy  of  the  Globe,  we  may  farther  include 
the  circumstance  that  these  fractures  are  the  most  frequent 
channels  of  issue  to  mineral  and  thermal  waters,  whose 
medicinal  virtues  alleviate  many  of  the  diseases  of  the 
Human  Frame.f 

"  Thus  in  the  whole  machinery  of  springs  and  Rivers, 
and  the  apparatus  that  is  kept  in  action  for  their  duration,, 
through  the  instrumentality  of  a  system  of  curiously  con- 
structed hills  and  valleys,  receiving  their  supply  occasionally 
from  the  rains  of  heaven,  and  treasuring  it  up  in  their  ever- 
lasting storehouses  to  be  dispeiised  •perpetually  by  thousa^nds 
of  never-failing  fountains,  we  see  a  provision  not  less  striking, 
than  it  is  important.  So  also  in  the  adjustment  of  the  re- 
lative quantities  of  Sea  and  Land,  in  such  due  proportions 
as  to  supply  the  earth  by  constant  evaporation,  without 
diminishing  the  waters  of  the  ocean;  and  in  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  Atmosphere  to  be  the  vehicle  of  this  wonderful 
and  unceasing  circulation,;  in  thus  separating  these  waters 
from  their  native  salt,  (which  though  of  the  highest  utility 
to  preserve  the  purity  of  the  sea,  renders  them  unfit  for  the 

*  The  causes  of  intermitting  Springs,  and  ebbing-,  and  flowing-  wells, 
and  many  minor  irregularities  in  the  Hydraulic  Action  of  natural  vents  of 
water,  depend  on  local  Accidents,  such  as  tlie  interposition  of  Siphons, 
Cavities,  Sec,  which  are  scarcely  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  noticed,  in 
the  general  view  we  are  here  taking  of  the  Causes  of  the  Origin  of  Springs. 

f  Dr.  Daubeny  has  shown  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  tiiermal  springs 
witli  which  we  are  acquainted,  arise  tlirough  fractures  situated  on  the  great 
lines  of  dislocation  of  the  strata.  See  Daubeny  on  Thermal  Springs,  Edin. 
Phil.  Jour.  April,  1832,  p.  49. 

Professor  Hoffman  has  given  examples  of  tliese  fractures  in  the  axis  of 
vMeys  of  elevation,  through  which  chalybeate  waters  rise  at  Pyrmont,  and. 
va  other  valleys  of  Westphalia.     See  PI.  67,  frg.  2. 

36* 


426  PROOFS  OF  DESIGN 

support  of  terrestrial  animals  or  vegetables,)  and  transmit- 
tinjT  them  in  genial  showers  to  scatter  fertility  over  the 
earth,  and  maintain  the  never-failing  reservoirs  of  those 
springs  and  rivers  by  which  they  are  again  returned  to  mix 
with  their  parent  ocean ;  in  all  these  circumstances  we  find 
such  evidence  of  nicely  balanced  adaptation  of  means  to 
ends,  of  wise  foresight,  and  benevolent  intention,  and  infinite 
power,  that  he  must  be  blind  indeed,  who  refuses  to  recog- 
nise in  them  proofs  of  the  most  exalted  attributes  of  the 
Creator."* 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Proofs  of  Design  in  the  Structure  and  Composition  of 
unorganized  Mineral  Bodies. 

Much  of  the  physical  histo^y  of  the  compound  forms  of 
unorganized  mineral  bodies,  has  been  anticipated  in  the  con- 
siderations given  in  our  early  chapters  to  the  unstratified  and 
crystalline  rocks.  It  remains,  only  to  say  a  few  words  re- 
specting the  simple  minerals  that  form  the  ingredients  of 
these  rocks,  and  the  elementary  bodies  of  which  they  are 
composed.f 

"  In  crossing  a  heath,"  (says  Paley,)  "  suppose  I  pitched 
my  foot  against  a  stone,  and  were  asked  how  the  stone  came 

*  Buckland,  Tnaug'.  Lecture,  p.  13. 

■j-  The  term  simple  mineral  is  applied  not  only  to  uncombined  mineral 
substances,  which  are  rare  in  Nature,  such  as  pure  native  gold  or  silver,  but 
also  to  all  kinds  of  compound  mineral  bodies  that  present  a  regular  crystal- 
line structm-e,  accompanied  by  definite  proportions  of  their  chemical  ingre- 
dients. The  difference  between  a  simple  mineral  and  a  simple  substance 
may  be  illustrated  by  the  case  of  calcareous  spar,  or  crystallized  carbonate 
of  lime.  I'he  ultimate  elements,  viz.  Calcium,  Oxygen,  and  Carbon,  are 
simple  substances;  the  crystalline  compound  resulting  from  the  union  of  these 
elements,  in  certain  definite  proportions,  forms  a  simple  mineral,  called  Car- 
bonate of  lime.  The  total  number  of  simple  minerals  hitherto  ascertained 
according  to  Berzelius  is  nearly  six  hundred,  that  of  simple  substances,  or 
elementary  principles,  is  fifty-fooi*. 


IN  SIMPLE  MINERALS.  427 

to  be  there ;  I  might  possibly  answer,  that,  for  any  thing  I 
knew  to  the  contrary,  it  had  lain  there  for  ever :  nor  would  it 
perhaps  be  very  easy  to  show  the  absurdity  of  this  answer."* 

Nay,  says  the  Geologist,  for  if  the  stone  were  a  pebble,  the 
adventures  of  this  pebble  may  have  been  many  and  various, 
and  fraught  with  records  of  physical  events,  that  produced 
important  changes  upon  the  surface  of  onr  planet ;  and  its 
rolled  condition  impUes  that  it  has  undergone  considerable 
locomotion  by  the  action  of  water. 

Or,  should  the  stone  be  Sand-stone,  or  part  of  any  Con- 
glomerate, or  fragmentary  stratum,  made  up  of  the  rounded 
detritus  of  other  rocks,  the  ingredients  of  such  a  stone  would 
bear  similar  evidence  of  movements  by  the  force  of  water, 
which  reduced  them  to  the  state  of  sand,  or  pebbles,  and 
transported  them  to  their  present  place,  before  the  existence 
of  the  stratum  of  which  they  form  a  part ;  consequently  no 
such  stratum  can  have  lain  in  its  present  place  for  ever. 

Again,  should  the  supposed  stone  contain  within  it  the 
petrified  remains  of  any  fossil  Animal  or  fossil  Plant,  these 
would  not  only  show  that  animal  and  vegetable  life  had  pre- 
ceded the  formation  of  the  rock  in  which  they  are  embedded ; 
but  their  organic  structure  might  afford  examples  of  contri- 
vance and  design,  as  unequivocally  attesting  the  exercise  of 
Intelligence  and  Power,  as  the  mechanism  of  a  Watch  or 
Steam  engine,  or  any  other  instrument  produced  by  human 
art,  bears  evidence  of  intention  and  skill  in  the  workman 
who  invented  and  constructed  them. 

Lastly,  should  it  even  be  Granite,  or  any  crystalline  Pri- 
mary Rock,  containing  neither  organic  remains,  nor  frag- 
ments of  other  rocks  more  ancient  than  itself,  it  can  still  be 
shown  that  there  was  a  time  when  even  stones  of  this  class 

•  I  have  quoted  this  passage,  not  in  disparagement  of  the  general  argu- 
inent  of  Paley,  whicli  is  altogether  independent  of  the  incidental  and  need- 
less comparison  with  which  he  has  prefaced  it,  but  to  show  the  importance  of 
the  addition,  that  has  been  made  by  the  discoveries  of  Geology  and  Minera- 
logy, to  the  evidence  of  the  non-eternity  of  the  earth,  which  so  great  a 
master  pronounced  to  be  imperfect,  for  lack  of  such  information  as  these 
modern  sciences  have  recently  supplied. 


438  PROOFS  OP  DESIGN 

had  not  assumed  their  present  state,  and  consequently  that 
there  is  not  one  of  them,  which  can  have  existed,  where 
they  now  are,  fore  ever.  The  Mineralogist  has  ascertained, 
that  Granite  is  a  compound  substance,  made  up  of  three  dis- 
tinct and  dissimilar  simple  mineral  bodies.  Quartz,  Felspar, 
and  Mica,  each  presenting  certain  regular  combinations  of 
external  form  and  internal  structure,  with  physical  proper- 
ties pecuHar  to  itself.  And  Chemical  Analysis  has  shown 
that  these  several  bodies  are  made  up  of  other  bodies,  all  of 
which  had  a  prior  existence  in  some  more  simple  state,  be- 
fore they  entered  on  their  present  union  in  the  mineral  con- 
stituents of  what  are  supposed  to  be  the  most  ancient  rocks 
accessible  to  human  observation.  The  Crystallographer 
also  has  farther  shown  that  the  several  ingredients  of  Gra- 
nite, and  of  all  other  kinds  of  Crystalline  Rocks  are  com- 
posed of  Molecules  which  are  invisibly  minute,  and  that 
each  of  these  Molecules  is  made  up  of  still  smaller  and  more 
simple  Molecules,  every  one  of  them  combined  in  fixed  and 
definite  proportions,  and  affording  at  all  the  successive  stages 
of  their  analysis,  presumptive  proof  that  they  possess  deter- 
minate geometrical  figures.  These  combinations  and  figures 
are  so  far  from  indicating  the  fortuitous  result  of  accident, 
that  they  are  disposed  according  to  laws  the  most  severely 
rigid,  and  in  proportions  mathematically  exact.* 

The  Atheistical  Theory  assuming  the  gratuitous  postulate 
of  the  eternity  of  matter  and  motion,  would  represent  the 
question  thus.  All  matter,  it  would  contend,  must  of  neces- 
sity have  assumed  some  form  or  other,  and  therefore  may 

*  The  above  Paragraphs  of  tliis  Chapter  excepting  the  first,  are  taken 
ahuost  verbatim  from  the  Author's  MS.  Notes  of  his  Lectures  on  Mineralogy, 
bearing  the  date  of  June  1822,  and  lie  has  adhered  more  closely  to  the  form 
under  which  they  appear,  than  he  might  otherwise  have  done,  for  the  sake 
of  showing  that  no  part  of  them  has  been  suggested  by  any  recent  publica- 
tions ;  and  that  the  views  here  taken  have  not  originated  in  express  consi- 
derations called  forth  by  the  occasion  of  the  present  Treatise,  but  are  the 
natural  result  of  ordinary  serious  attention  to  the  phenomena  of  Geology  and 
Mineralogy,  viewed  in  their  conjoint  relations  to  one  another,  and  of  inquiry 
pursued  a  few  steps  farther  beyond  the  facts  towards  the  causes  in  wJiich. 
tliey  originated. 


IN  SIMPLE  MINERALS.  429 

fortuitously  have  settled  into  any  of  those  under  which  it 
actually  appears.  Now,  on  this  hypothesis,  we  ought  to 
find  all  kinds  of  substances  presented  occasionally  under 
an  infinite  number  of  external  forms,  and  combined  in  end- 
less varieties  "of  indefinite  proportions ;  but  observation  has 
shown  that  crystaUine  mineral  bodies  occur  under  a  fixed 
and  limited  number  of  external  forms  called  secondary, 
and  that  these  are  constructed  on  a  series  of  more  simple 
primary  forms,  which  are  demonstrable  by  cleavage  and 
mechanical  division,  without  chemical  analysis ;  the  inte- 
grant molecules*  of  these  primary  forms  of  crystals  are 
usually  compound  bodies,  made  up  of  an  ulterior  series  of 
constituent  molecules,  i.  e.  molecules  of  the  first  substances 
obtained  by  chemical  analysis ;  and  these  in  many  cases  are 
also  compound  bodies,  made  up  of  the  elementary  molecules, 
or  final  indivisible  atoms,f  of  which  the  ultimate  particles  of 
matter  are  probably  composed.^ 

*  Ce  que  j'ai  dit  de  la  forme  deviendra  encore  plus  evident,  si,  en  pene- 
trant dans  le  mecanisme  inline  de  la  structure,  on  congoit  tous  ces  cristaux 
comme  des  assemblages  de  molecules  integrantcs  parfaitement  sembiables 
par  leurs  formes,  et  subordonnees,  k  un  arrangement  regulier.  Ainsi,  au 
lieu  qu'une  etude  superficielle  des  cristaux  n'y  laissail  voir  que  des  singula- 
rites  de  la  nature,  une  etude  approfondie  nous  conduit  &.  cette  consequence 
que  le  meme  Dieu  dont  la  puissance  et  la  sagesse  ont  soumis  la  course  des 
astres  a,  des  lois  qui  ne  se  dementent  jamais,  en  a  aussi  etabli  auxquelles  ont 
obei  avec  la  ra6me  fidelite  les  molecules  qui  se  sont  reunies  donner  naissance 
aux  corps  caches  dans  les  retraites  du  globe  que  nous  habitons.  Hauy,  Ta- 
bleau comparatif  des  Resultats  de  la  Cristallographie  et  de  V Analyse  Chi- 
mique.  P.  xvii. 

t  "We  seem  to  be  justified  in  concluding,  that  a  limit  is  to  be  assigned 
to  the  divisibility  of  matter,  and  consequently  that  we  must  suppose  the  ex- 
istence of  certain  ultimate  particles,  stamped,  as  Newton  conjectured,  in  the 
beginning  of  time  by  the  hands  of  the  Almighty  with  permanent  characters, 
and  retaining  the  exact  size  and  figure,  no  less  than  the  other  more  subtle 
qualities  and  relations  which  were  given  to  them  at  the  first  moment  oftheir 
creation. 

"  The  particles  of  the  several  substances  existing  in  nature  may  thus  de- 
serve to  be  regarded  as  the  alphabet,  composing  the  great  volume  which  re- 
cords the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  the  Creator." 

Daubney^s  Atomic  Theory,  p.  107. 

\  We  may  once  for  all  illustrate  the  combinations  of  exact  and  methodical 


430  PROOFS  OF  DESIGN 

When  we  have  in  this  manner  traced  back  all  kinds-  of 
mineral  bodies,  to  the  first  and  most  simple  condition  of 
their  component  Elements,  we  find  these  elements  to  have 
been  at  all  times  regulated  by  the  self-same  system  of  fixed 
and  universal  laws,  which  still  maintains  the  mechanism 
of  the  material  world.  In  the  operation  of  these  laws  we 
recognise  such  direct  and  constant  subserviency  of  means 
to  ends,  so  much  of  harmony,  and  order,  and  methodical 
arrangement,  in  the  physical  properties  and  proportional 
quantities,  and  chemical  functions  of  the  inorganic  Ele- 
ments, and  we  farther  see  such  convincing  evidence  of 
intelligence  and  foresight  in  the  adaptation  of  these  pri- 
mordial Elements  to  an  infinity  of  complex  uses,  under 
many  future  systems  of  animal  and  vegetable  organizations, 
that  we  can  find  no  reasonable  account  of  the  existence  of 

arrangements  under  which  the  ordinary  crystalline  forms  of  minerals  have 
been  produced,  by  the  phenomena  of  a  single  species ;  viz.  the  well-known 
substance  of  Carbonate  of  Lime. 

We  have  more  then  five  hundred  varieties  of  secondary  forms  presented  by 
the  crystals  of  this  abundant  earthy  mineral.  In  each  of  these  we  trace  a  five- 
fold series  of  subordinate  relations  of  one  system  of  combinations  to  another 
system,  under  which  every  individual  crystal  has  been  adjusted  by  laws,, 
acting  correlatively  to  produce  harmonious  results. 

Every  crystal  of  Carbonate  of  Lime  is  made  up  of  millions  of  particles 
of  the  same  compound  substance,  having  one  invariable  primary  form,  viz. 
that  of  a  rhomboidal  solid,  which  may  be  obtained  to  an  indefinite  extent  by 
mechanical  division. 

The  integrent  molecules  these  rhomboidal  solids  form  the  smallest  par- 
ticles to  which  the  Limestone  can  be  reduced  without  chemical  decomposi- 
tion. 

The  first  result  of  chemical  analysis  divides  these  integrant  molecules  of 
Carbonate  of  Lime  into  two  compound  substances,  namely,  Quick  Lime  and 
Carbonic  Acid,  each  of  which  is  made  up  of  an  incalculable  number  of  con- 
stituent molecules. 

A  farther  analysis  of  these  constituent  molecules  shows  that  they  also  are 
compound  bodies,  each  made  up  of  two  elementary  substances,  viz.  the  Lime 
made  up  of  elementary  molecules  of  the  metal  Calcium,  and  Oxygen;  and 
the  Carbonic  Acid,  of  elementary  molecules  of  Carbon  and  Oxygen. 

These  ultimate  molecules  of  Calcium  Carbon,  and  Oxygen,  form  the  final 
indivisible  atoms  into  which  every  secondary  crystal  of  Carbonate  of  Lime 
Qau  be  resolved. 


m  SIMPLE  MINERALS.  431 

all  this  beautiful  and  exact  machinery,  if  we  accept  not  that 
which  would  refer  its  origin  to  the  antecedent  Will  and 
Power  of  a  Supreme  Creator;  a  Being,  whose  nature  is 
confessedly  incomprehensible  to  our  finite  faculties,  but, 
vviiom  the  "  things  which  do  appear "  proclaim  to  be  su- 
premely Wise,  and  Great,  and  Good. 

To  attribute  all  this  harmony  and  order  to  any  fortuitous 
causes  that  would  exclude  Design,  would  be  to  reject  con- 
clusions founded  on  that  kind  of  evidence,  on  which  the 
human  mind  reposes  with  undoubting  confidence  in  all  the 
ordinary  business  of  life,  as  well  as  in  physical  and  meta- 
physical investigations.  "  Si  mundum  efficere  potest  con- 
cursus  atomorum,  cur  porticum,  cur  templem,  cur  domum, 
cur  urbem  non  potest?  quse  sunt  minus  operosa  et  multo 
quidem  faciliora."* 

Such  was  the  interrogatory  of  the  Roman  Moralist, 
arising  from  his  contemplation  of  the  obvious  phenomena  of 
the  natural  world;  and  the  conclusion  of  Bentley  from  a 
wider  view  of  more  recondite  phenomena,  in  an  age  re- 
markable for  the  advancement  of  some  of  the  hiirhest 
branches  of  Physical  Science,  has  been  most  abundantly 
confirmed  by  the  manifold  discoveries  of  a  succeeding  cen- 
tury. We  therefore  of  the  present  age  have  a  thousand 
additional  reasons  to  affirm  with  him,  that  "  though  univer- 
sal matter  should  have  endured  from  everlasting,  divided 
into  infinite  particles  in  the  Epicurean  way,  and  though  mo- 
tion should  have  been  coeval  and  coeternal  with  it ;  yet  those 
particles  or  atoms  could  never  of  themselves,  by  omnifarious 
kinds  of  motion,  whether  fortuitous  or  mechanical,  have 
fallen,  or  been  disposed  into  this  or  a  hke  visible  system. "f — 
Bentley,  Serm.  vi.  of  Atheism,  p.  192. 

*  Cicero  de  Natura  Deorum,  lib.  ii.  37. 

f  Ur.  Prout  lias  pursued  this  subject  still  farther  in  the  third  Chapter  of 
his  Bridgewater  Treatise,  and  shown  that  the  molecular  constitution  of  mat- 
ter with  its  admirable  adaptations  to  the  economy  of  the  natural  world,  can- 
not have  endured  from  eternity,  and  is  by  no  means  a  necessary  condition  of 
its  existence;  but  has  resulted  from  the  Will  of  some  intelligent  and  volun- 
tary Agent,  possessing  power  commensui-ate  with  his  Will. 


432  PROOF  OF  THE  EXISTENCE  OF  A  DEITY. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Conclusion. 

In  our  last  Chapter  we  have  considered  the  Nature  of  the 
Evidence  afforded  by  unorganized  mineral  bodies,  in  proof 
of  the  existence  of  design  in  the  original  adaptation  of  the 
material  Elements  to  their  various  functions,  in  the  inorganic 
and  organic  departments  of  the  Natural  World,  and  have 
seen  that  the  only  sufficient  Explanation  we  can  discover, 
of  the  orderly  and  wonderful  dispositions  of  the  material 
Elements  "  in  measure  and  number  and  weight,"  throughout 
the  terraqueous  globe,  is  that  which  refers  the  origin  of 
every  thing  above  us,  and  beneath  us,  and  around  us,  to  the 
will  and  workings  of  One  Omnipotent  Creator.  If  the  pro- 
perties imparted  to  these  Elements  at  the  moment  of  their 
Creation,  adapted  them  beforehand  to  the  infinity  of  compli- 
cated useful  purposes,  which  they  have  already  answered, 
and  may  have  farther  still  to  answer,  under  many  succes- 
sive Dispensations  in  the  material  World,  such  an  aboriginal 
constitution  so  far  from  superseding  an  intelligent  Agent, 
would  only  exalt  our  conceptions  of  the  consummate  skill 
and  power,  that  could  comprehend  such  an  infinity  of  future 
uses  under  future  systems,  in  the  original  groundwork  of  his 
Creation. 

In  an  early  part  of  our  Inquiry,  we  traced  back  the  his- 

In  the  first  Section  of  his  fourth  Chapter  the  same  author  has  also  so  clear- 
ly shown  the  great  extent  to  which  several  of  the  most  common  mineral 
substances  e.  g.  lime,  magnesia,  and  iron,  enter  into  the  composition  of  ani- 
mal and  vegetable  bodies,  and  has  so  fully  set  forth  the  evidences  of  design 
in  the  constitution  and  properties  of  the  few  simple  substances,  viz.  fifty-four 
Elementary  principles,  into  some  one  or  more  of  which  the  component  ma- 
terials of  all  the  three  great  kingdoms  of  Nature  can  be  resolved,  that  I  deem 
it  superfluous  to  repeat  in  another  form,  the  substance  of  arguments  which 
have  been  so  well  and  fully  drawn  by  my  learned  Colleague,  from  those  phe- 
nomena of  the  mineral  Elements,  which  form  no  small  part  of  the  evidence 
afforded  by  the  Chemistry  of  Mineralogy,  in  proof  of  the  Wisdom,  and 
Power,  and  Goodness  of  the  Creator. 


TERRESTRIAL  ADAPTATIONS.  433 

tory  of  the  Primary  rocks,  which  composed  the  first  sohd 
materials  of  the  Globe,  to  a  probable  condition  of  universal 
Fusion,  incompatible  with  the  existence  of  any  forms  of 
organic  life,  and  saw  reason  to  conclude  that  as  the  crust  of 
the  Globe  became  gradually  reduced  in  temperature,  the 
unstratified  crystalline  rocks,  and  stratified  rocks  produced 
by  their  destruction,  were  disposed  and  modified,  during 
long  periods  of  time,  by  physical  forces,  the  same  in  kind 
with  those  which  actually  subsist,  but  more  intense  in  their 
degree  of  operation ;  and  that  the  result  has  been  to  adapt 
our  planet  to  become  the  receptacle  of  divers  races  of  vege- 
table and  animal  beings,  and  finally  to  render  it  a  fit  and 
convenient  habitation  for  Mankind. 

We  have  seen  still  farther  that  the  surface  of  the  Land, 
and  the  Waters  of  the  Sea  have  during  long  periods,  and  at 
distant  intervals  of  time,  preceding  the  Creation  of  our 
species,  been  peopled  with  many  different  races  of  Vegeta- 
bles and  Animals,  supplying  the  place  of  other  races  that 
had  gone  before  them;  and  in  all  these  phenomena,  con- 
sidered singly,  we  have  found  evidence  of  Method  and 
Design.  We  have  moreover  seen  such  a  systematic  recur- 
rence of  analogous  Designs,  producing  various  ends  by 
various  combinations  of  Mechanism,  multiplied  almost  to 
infinity  in  their  details  of  application,  yet  all  constructed  on 
the  same  few  common  fundamental  principles  which  pervade 
the  living  forms  of  organized  Beings,  that  we  reasonably 
conclude  all  these  past  and  present  contrivances  to  be  parts 
of  a  comprehensive  and  connected  whole,  originating  in  the 
Will  and  Power  of  one  and  the  same  Creator. 

Had  the  number  or  nature  of  the  material  Elements 
appeared  to  have  been  different  under  former  conditions  of 
the  Earth,  or  had  the  Laws  which  have  regulated  the  pheno- 
mena of  inorganic  matter,  been  subjected  to  change  at 
various  Epochs,  during  the  progress  of  the  many  formations 
of  which  Geology  takes  cognizance,  there  might  indeed  have 
been  proofs  of  Wisdom  and  Power  in  such  unconnected 
VOL,  I. — 37 


434  "UNITY  OF  THE   DEITY* 

phenomena,  but  they  would  have  been  insufficient  to  demon* 
strate  the  Unity  and  Universal  Agency  of  the  same  eternal 
and  supreme  First  Cause  of  all  things. 

Again,  had  Geology  gone  no  farther  than  to  prove  the 
existence  of  multifarious  examples  of  Design,  its  evidences 
would  indeed  have  been  decisive  against  the  Atheist ;  but  if 
such  Design  had  been  manifested  only  by  distinct  and  dissi- 
milar systems  of  Organization,  and  independent  Mechanisms, 
connected  together  by  no  analogies,  and  bearing  no  relations 
to  one  another,  or  to  any  existing  types  in  the  Animal  or 
Vegetable  kingdoms,  these  demonstrations  of  Design,  al- 
though affording  evidence  of  Intelligence  and  Power,  would 
not  have  proved  a  common  origin  in  the  Will  of  one  and 
the  same  Creator ;  and  the  Polytheist  might  have  appealed 
to  such  non-accordant  and  inharmonious  systems,  as  afford- 
ing indications  of  the  agency  of  many  independent  Intelli- 
gences, and  as  corroborating  his  theory  of  a  plurality  of 
Gods. 

But  the  argument  which  would  infer  a  Unity  of  cause, 
from  unity  of  effects,  repeated  through  various  and  complex 
systems  of  organization  widely  remote  from  each  other  in 
time  and  place  and  circumstances,  applies  with  accumula- 
tive force,  when  we  not  only  can  expand  the  details  of  facts 
on  which  it  is  founded,  over  the  entire  surface  of  the  present 
world,  but  are  enabled  to  comprehend  in  the  same  catagory 
all  the  various  extinct  forms  of  many  preceding  systems  of 
organization,  which  we  find  entombed  within  the  bowels  of 
the  Earth.  It  was  well  observed  by  Paley,  respecting  the 
variations  we  find  in  living  species  of  Plants  and  Animals, 
in  distant  regions  and  under  various  climates,  that  "We 
never  get  amongst  such  original  or  totally  different  modes 
of  Existence,  as  to  indicate  that  we  are  come  into  the  pro- 
vince of  a  different  Creator,  or  under  the  direction  of  a  dif- 
ferent Will."*  And  the  very  extensive  subterranean  re- 
searches that  have  more  recently  been  made,  have  greatly 

»  Paley  Nat.  Theol.  p.  450.  Chap,  on  the  Unity  of  the  Deity. 


UNITY  OP  THE  DEITY,  435 

enlarged  the  range   of  Facts  in  accordance  with  those  on 
which  Paley  grounded  this  assertion. 

In  all  the  numerous  examples  of  Design  which  we  have 
selected  from  the  various  animal  and  vegetable  remains, 
that  occur  in  a  fossil  state,  there  is  such  a  never-faihng  Iden- 
tity in  the  fundamental  principles  of  their  construction,  and 
sucii  uniform  adoption  of  analogous  means,  to  produce  va- 
rious ends,  with  so  much  only  of  departure  from  one  com- 
mon type  of  mechanism,  as  was  requisite  to  adapt  each  in- 
strument to  its  own  especial  function,  and  to  fit  each  Species 
to  its  pecuUar  place  and  office  in  the  scale  of  created  Beings, 
that  we  can  scarcely  fail  to  acknowledge  in  all  these  facts, 
a  Demonstration  of  the  Unity,  of  the  Intelligence,  in  which 
such  transcendent  Harmony  originated ;  and  we  may  almost 
dare  to  assert  that  neither  Atheism  nor  Polytheism  would 
ever  have  found  acceptance  in  the  World,  had  the  evidences 
of  high  Intelligence  and  of  Unity  of  Design,  which  are  dis- 
closed by  modern  discoveries  in  physical  science,  been  fully 
known  to  the  Authors,  or  the  Abettors  of  Systems  to  which 
tliey  are  so  diametrically  opposed.     "  It  is  the  same  hand- 
writing that  we  read,  the  same  system  and  contrivance  that 
we  trace,  the  same  unity  of  object,  and  relation  to  final 
causes,  which  we  see  maintained  throughout,  and  constantly 
proclaiming  the  Unity  of  the  great  divine  Original.* 

It  has  been  stated  in  our  Sixth  Chapter,  on  primary  stra- 
tified rocks,  that  Geology  has  rendered  an  important  ser- 
vice to  Natural  Theology,  in  demonstrating  by  evidences 
pecuHar  to  itself,  that  there  was  a  time  when  none  of  the 
existing  forms  of  organic  beings  had  appeared  upon  our 
Planet,  and  that  the  doctrines  of  the  derivation  of  living  spe- 
cies either  by  Development  and   Transmutation]  from  other 

*  Biickland's  Inaug.  Lect.  1819,  p.  13. 

f  As  a  misunderslanding  may  arise  in  the  minds  of  persons  not  familiar 
with  the  language  of  physiology,  respecting  the  import  of  the  word  De. 
velopment,  it  may  be  proper  here  to  state,  that  in  its  primary  sense,  it  is 
applied  to  express  the  organic  changes  which  take  place  in  the  bodies  of 
erery  animal  and  vegetable  Being,  from  their  embryo  state,  until  they  ar- 


436  PECULIAR  EVIDENCES  OP  GEOLOGY. 

species,  or  by  an  Eternal  Succession  from  preceding  indi- 
viduals of  the  same  species,  M^ithout  any  evidence  of  a  Be- 
ginning or  prospect  of  an  End,  has  no  where  been  met  by  so 
full  an  answer,  as  that  afforded  by  the  phenomena,  of  fossil 
Organic  Remains. 

In  the  course  of  our  inquiry,  we  have  found  abundant 
proofs,  both  of  the  Beginning  and  the  End  of  several  suc- 
cessive systems  of  animal  and  vegetable  life ;  each  compel- 
ling us  to  refer  its  origin  to  the  direct  agency  of  Creative 
Interference ;  "  We  conceive  it  undeniable,  that  we  see,  in 
the  transition  from  an  Earth  peopled  by  one  set  of  animals 
to  the  same  Earth  swarming  with  entirely  new  forms  of  or- 
ganic life,  a  distinct  manifestation  of  creative  power  trans- 
cending the  operation  of  known  laws  of  nature :  and  it  ap- 
])ears  to  us,  that  Geology  has  thus  lighted  a  new  Ijgmp  along 
the  path  of  Natural  Theology."* 

Whatever  alarm  therefore  may  have  been  excited  in  the 
earlier  stages  of  their  development,  the  time  is  now  arrived 
when  Geological  discoveries  appear  to  be  so  far  from  dis- 
closing any  phenomena,  that  are  not  in  harmony  with  the 
arguments  supplied  by  other  branches  of  physical  Science, 
in  proof  of  the  existence  and  agency  of  One  and  the  same 
all-wise  and  all-powerful  Creator,  that  they  add  to  the  evi- 
dences of  Natural  Religion  links  of  high  importance  that 
have  confessedly  been  wanting,  and  are  now  filled  up  by 

live  at  full  maturity.  In  a  more  extended  sense,  the  term  is  also  applied  to 
those  progressive  changes  in  fossil  genera  and  species,  whicli  have  followed 
one  another  during  the  deposition  of  the  strata  of  the  earth,  in  the  course  of 
the  gradual  advancement  of  the  grand  system  of  Creation.  The  same  term 
has  been  adopted  by  Lamarck,  to  express  his  hypothetical  views  of  the 
derivation  of  existing  species  from  preceding  spe^cies,  by  successive  Trans- 
mutations  of  one  form  of  organization  into  another  form,  independent  of 
the  influence  of  any  creative  Agent.  It  is  important  that  tiiese  distinctions 
should  be  rightly  understood,  lest  the  frequent  application  of  the  word 
Development,  which  occurs  in  the  writings  of  modern  physiologists,  should 
lead  to  a  false  inference,  that  the  use  of  this  term  implies  an  admission  of  the 
theory  of  Transmutation  with  which  Lamarck  has  associated  it, 
*  British  Critic,  No.  XVII.  Jan.  1831,  p.  194. 


PROVINCES  OF  REASON  AND  REVELATION.        437 

facts  which  the  investigation  of  the  structure  of  the  Earth 
has  brought  to  light. 

"  If  I  understand  Geology  aright,  (says  Professor  Hitch- 
cock,) so  far  from  touching  the  eternity  of  the  world,  it 
proves  more  directly  than  any  other  science  can,  that  its 
revolutions  and  races  of  inhabitants  had  a  commencement, 
and  that  it  contains  within  itself  the  chemical  energies, 
which  need  only  to  be  set  at  liberty,  by  the  will  of  their 
Creator,  to  accomplish  its  destruction.  Because  this  science 
teaches  that  the  revolutions  of  nature  have  occupied  im- 
mense periods  of  time,  it  does  not  therefore  teach  that  they 
form  an  eternal  series.  It  only  enlarges  our  conceptions 
of  the  Deity ;  and  when  men  shall  cease  to  regard  Geology 
with  jealousy  and  narrow-minded  prejudices,  they  will  find 
that  it  opens  fields  of  research  and  contemplation  as  wide 
and  as  grand  as  astronomy  itself."*  f 

"  There  is  in  truth,  (says  Bishop  Blomfield)  no  opposition 
nor  inconsistency  between  Religion  and  Science,  commonly 
so  called,  except  that  which  has  been  conjured  up  by  inju- 
dicious zeal  or  false  philosophy,  mistaking  the  ends  of  a 
divine  revelation."  And  again  in  another  passage  of  the 
same  powerful  discourse,  after  defining  the  proper  objects 
for  the  exercise  of  the  human  understanding,  his  Lordship 
most  justly  observes,  "  Under  these  limitations  and  correc- 
tions we  may  join  in  the  praises  which  are  lavished  upon 
philosophy  and  science,  and  fearlessly  go  forth  with  their 
votaries  into  all  the  various  paths  of  research,  by  which  the 
mind  of  man  pierces  into  the  hidden  treasures  of  nature; 

*  Hitclicock's  Geology  of  Massachusetts,  p.  395. 

t  "  Why  should  we  hesitate  to  admit  the  existence  of  our  Globe  through 
periods  as  long  as  geological  researches  require;  since  the  sacred  word  docs 
not  declare  the  time  of  its  original  creation  ;  and  since  such  a  view  of  its 
antiquity  enlarges  our  ideas  of  the  operations  of  the  Deity  in  respect  to 
duration,  as  much  as  astronomy  does  in  regard  to  space  ?  Instead  of  bring- 
ing us  into  collision  with  Moses,  it  seems  to  me  that  Geology  furnishes  us 
with  some  of  the  grandest  conceptions  of  the  Divine  Attributes  and  Plans  to 
be  found  in  the  whole  circle  of  human  knowledge."  Hitchcock's  Geolojy 
of  Massachusetts,  1835,  p,  2Q5. 

37* 


438        PROVINCES  OF  REASON  AND  REVELATION. 

harmonizes  its  more  conspicuous  features,  and  removes  the 
veil  wliich  to  the  ignorant  or  careless  observer,  obscures  the 
traces  of  God's  glory  in  the  works  of  his  hands."* 

The  disappointment  w^hich  many  minds  experience,  at 
finding  in  the  phenomena  of  the  natural  world  no  indications 
of  the  will  of  God,  respecting  the  moral  conduct  or  future 
prospects  of  the  human  race,  arises  principally  from  an 
indistinct  and  mistaken  view  of  the  respective  provinces  of 
Reason  and  Revelation. 

By  the  exercise  of  our  Reason,  we  discover  abundant 
evidences  of  the  Existence,  and  of  some  of  the  Attributes 
of  a  supreme  Creator,  and  apprehend  the  operations  of  many 
of  the  second  causes  or  instrumental  agents,  by  which  he 
upholds  the  mechanism  of  the  material  World;  but  here 
its  province  ends:  respecting  the  subjects  on  which,  above 
all  others,  it  concerns  mankind  to  be  well  informed,  namely, 
the  will  of  God  in  his  moral  government,  and  the  future 
prospects  of  the  human  race,  reason  only  assures  us  of  the 
absolute  need  in  which  we  stand  of  a  Revelation.  Many  of 
the  greatests  proficients  in  philosophy  have  felt  and  expressed 
these  distinctions.  "  The  consideratioji  of  God's  Provi- 
dence (says  Boyle)  in  the  conduct  of  things  corporeal  may 
prove  to  a  well-disposed  Contemplator,  a  Bridge,  whereon 
he  may  pass  from  Natural  to  Revealed  Religion.,  'f  J 

'•  Next  (says  Locke)  to  the  knowledge  of  one  God,  Maker 

*  Sermon  at  the  opening-  of  King's  College,  London,  1831,  pp,  19.  14. 

T  Christian  Virtuoso,  1690,  p,  42. 

i  "Natural  Religion,  as  it  is  the  first  that  is  embraced  by  tlie  mind,  so  it 
is  the  foundation  upon  wliicli  revealed  religion  ou^ht  to  be  superstructed, 
and  is  as  it  were,  the  stock  upon  which  Christianit}'  must  be  engrafted. 
For  though  I  readily  acknowledge  natural  religion  to  be  insufficient,  yet  I 
think  it  very  necessary.  It  will  be  to  little^purpose  to  press  an  infidel  with, 
arguments  drawn  from  the  worthiness,  that  appears  in  the  Christian  doc- 
trine to  have  been  revealed  by  God,  and  from  the  miracles  its  first  preachers 
wrought  to  confirm  it ;  if  the  unbeliever  be  not  already  persuaded,  upon  the 
account  of  natural  religion,  that  there  is  a  God,  and  that  he  is  a  rewarder  of 
them  that  diligently  seek  /tf??!."     Boyle's  Christian  Virtuoso.  Part.  II.  prop.  1 


PROVINCES  OF  E.EASON  AND  REVELATION.  439 

of  all  things,  a  clear  knowledge  of  their  duty  was  wanting 
to  mankind." 

And  He,  whose  name,  by  the  consent  of  nations,  is  above 
all  praise,  the  inventor  and  founder  of  the  Inductive  Philo- 
sophy, thus  breathes  forth  his  pious  meditation,  *•'  Thy  crea- 
tures have  been  my  books,  but  thy  Scriptures  much  more. 
I  have  sought  thee  in  the  courts,  fields,  and  gardens,  but  I 
have  found  thee  in  thy  temples."  Bacon's  Works,  V.  4.  fol. 
p.  487. 

The  sentiment  here  quoted  had  been  long  familiar  to  him, 
for  it  pervades  his  writings ;  it  is  thus  strikingly  expressed 
in  his  immortal  work.  '•' Concludamus  igitur  theologiam 
sacram  ex  Verbo  et  Oraculis  Dei,  non  ex  lumine  Naturee 
aut  Rationis  dictamine  hauriri  debere.  Scriptum  est  enim 
coeli  enarrant  Glorium  Dei,  at  nusquam  scriptum  invenitur, 
coeli  enarrant  Voluntatem  Dei."*  f 

Having  then  this' broad  line  marked  out  before  us,,  and 

*  Bacon  De  Aug-m,  Scient.  Lib.  IX.  ch.  i. 

f  "  Nothing,"  says  Sir  I.  F.  W.  Herschel,  "  can  be  more  unfounded 
than  the  objection  whicli  has  been  taken  in  limine,  by  persons  well  meaning 
perhaps,  certainly  narrow-minded,  against  the  study  of  natural  philosophy, 
and  indeed  against  all  science, — that  it  fosters  in  its  cultivators  an  undue  and 
overweening  self-conceit,  leads  them  to  doubt  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
and  to  scoft"  at  revealed  religion.  Its  natural  effect,  we  may  confidently  as- 
sert, on  every  well  consituted  mind,  is  and  must  be  the  direct  contrary.  No 
doubt,  the  testimony  of  natui'al  reason,  on  whatever  exercised,  must  of  ne- 
cessity stop  short  of  those  truths  which  it  is  the  object  of  revelation  to  make 
known;  but  while  it  places  the  existence  and  principal  attributes  of  a  Deity 
on  such  grounds  as  to  render  doubt  absurd  and  atheism  ridiculous,  it  unques- 
tionably opposes  no  natural  or  necessary  obstacle  to  farther  progress;  on  the 
contrary,  by  cherislilng  as  a  vital  ]n-lnciple  and  unbounded  spirit  of  inquiry, 
and  ardency  of  expectatioji,  it  unfetters  the  mind  from  prejudices  of  every 
kind,  and  leaves  it  open  and  free  to  every  impression  of  a  higher  nature  which- 
it  is  susceptible  of  receiving,  guarding  only  against  enthusiasm  and  self- 
deception  by  a  habit  of  strict  investigation,  but  encouraging,  rather  than 
suppressing,  every  thing  that  can  offer  a  prospect  or  a  hope  beyond  the  pre- 
sent obscure  and  unsatisfactory  state.  The  character  of  the  true  Philoso- 
pher is  to  hope  all  things  not  impossible,  and  to  believe  all  things  not  un-- 
reasonable."     Discourse  on  the  Study  of  Natural  Philosophy,  p.  7. 


440  PROPER  PROVINCE  OF  GEOLOGY. 

with  a  clear  and  perfect  understanding,  as  to  what  we  ought, 
and  what  we  ought  not  to  expect  from  the  discoveries  of 
Natural  Philosophy,  we  may  strenuously  pursue  our  labours 
in  the  fruitful  field  of  Science,  under  the  full  assurance  that 
we  shall  gather  a  rich  and  abundant  harvest,  fraught  with 
endless  evidences  of  the  existence,  and  wisdom,  and  power, 
and  goodness  of  the  Creator. 

"  The  Philosopher  (says  Professor  Babbage)  has  conferred 
on  the  Moralist  an  obligation  of  surpassing  weight ;  in  un- 
veiHng  to  him  the  living  miracles  which  teem  in  rich  exu- 
berance around  the  minutest  atom,  as  well  as  through  the 
largest  masses  of  ever  active  matter,  he  has  placed  before 
him  resistless  evidence  of  immeasurable  design."* 

"  See  only  (says  Lord  Brougham)  in  what  contemplations 
the  wisest  of  men  end  their  most  subhme  inquiries  !  Mark 
where  it  is  that  a  Newton  finally  reposes  after  piercing  the 
thickest  veil  that  envelopes  nature — grasping  and  arresting 
in  their  course  the  most  subtle  of  her  elements  and  the 
swiftest — traversing  the  regions  of  boundless  space — ex- 
ploring worlds  beyond  the  solar  way — giving  out  the  law 
which  binds  the  universe  in  eternal  order !  He  rests,  as  by 
an  inevitable  necessity,  upon  the  contemplation  of  the  great 
First  Cause,  and  holds  it  his  highest  glory  to  have  made  the 
evidence  of  his  existence,  and  the  dispensations  of  his  power 
and  of  his  wisdom  better  understood  by  mcn."t 

If  then  it  is  admitted  to  be  the  high  and  peculiar  privilege 
of  our  human  nature,  and  a  devotional  exercise  of  our  most 
exalted  faculties,  to  extend  our  thoughts  towards  Immensity 
and  into  Eternity,  to  gaze  on  the  marvellous  Beauty  that 
pervades  the  material  world,  and  to  comprehend  that  Wit- 
ness of  himself,  which  the  Author  of  the  Universe  has  set 
before  us  in  the  visible  works  of  his  Creation ;  it  is  clear  that 
next  to  the  study  of  those  distant  worlds  which  engage  the 
contemplation  of  the  Astronomer,  the  largest  and  most  su- 

•  Babbage  on  the  Economy  of  Manufactures,  1  Ed,  p.  319. 
+  Lord  Brougham's  Discourse  of  Natuind  Theology,  1  Ed.  p.  194. 


GEOLOGY  AUXILIARY  TO  THEOLOGY.  441 

blime  subject  of  physical  inquiry  which  can  occupy  the  mind 
of  Man,  and  by  far  the  most  interesting,  from  the  personal 
concern  we  have  in  it,  is  the  history  of  the  formation  and 
structure  of  the  Planet  on  which  we  dwell,  of  the  many  and 
wonderful  revolutions  through  which  it  has  passed,  of  the  vast 
and  various  changes  in  organic  life  that  have  followed  one  an- 
other upon  its  surface,  and  of  its  multifarious  adaptations  to 
the  support  of  its  present  inhabitants,  and  to  the  physical  and 
moral  condition  of  the  Human  race. 

These  and  kindred  branches  of  inquiry,  co-extensive  with 
the  very  matter  of  the  globe  itself,  form  the  proper  subject 
of  Geology,  duly  and  curiously  pursued,  as  a  legitimate 
branch  of  inductive  science  :  the  history  of  the  Mineral 
kingdom  is  exclusively  its  own ;  and  of  the  other  two  great 
departments  of  Nature,  which  form  the  Vegetable  and 
Animal  kingdoms,  the  foundations  were  laid  in  ages,  whose 
records  are  entombed  in  the  interior  of  the  Earth,  and  art^ 
recovered  only  by  the  labours  of  the  Geologist,  who  in  the 
petrified  organic  remains  of  former  conditions  of  our  Planet, 
deciphers  documents  of  the  Wisdom  in  which  the  world  was 
created. 

Shall  it  any  longer  then  be  said,  that  a  science,  which  un- 
folds such  abundant  evidence  of  the  Being  and  Attributes  of 
God,  can  reasonably  be  viewed  in  any  other  light  than  as 
the  efficient  Auxiliary  and  Handmaid  of  Religion  ?  Some 
few  there  still  may  be,  whom  timidity  or  prejudice  or  want 
of  opportunity  allow  not  to  examine  its  evidence  ;  who  arc 
alarmed  by  the  novelty,  or  surprised  by  the  extent  and  mag- 
nitude of  the  views  which  Geologv  forces  on  their  attention, 
and  who  would  rather  have  kept  closed  the  volume  of  wit- 
ness, which  has  been  sealed  up  for  ages  beneath  the  surface 
of  the  earth,  than  impose  on  the  student  in  natural  Theology 
the  duty  of  studying  its  contents ;  a  duty,  in  which  for  lack 
of  experience  they  may  anticipate  a  hazardous  or  a  laborious 
task,  but  which  by  those  engaged  in  it  is  found  to  afford  a 
rational  and  righteous,  and  delightful  exercise  of  their  highest 


442  GEOLOGICAL  PROOF  OF  A  DEITY. 

faculties,  in  multiplying  the  evidences  of  the  Existence  and 
Attributes  and  Providence  of  God.* 

The  alarm  however  which  was  excited  by  the  novelty  of 
its  first  discoveries  has  well  nigh  passed  away,  and  those  to 
whom  it  has  been  permitted  to  be  the  humble  instruments  of 
their  promulgation,  and  who  have  steadily  persevered,  under 
the  firm  assurance  that  "  Truth  can  never  be  opposed  to 
Truth,"  and  that  the  works  of  God  when  rightly  understood, 
and  viewed  in  their  true  relations,  and  from  a  right  position, 
would  at  length  be  found  to  be  in  perfect  accordance  with 
his  Word,  are  now  receiving  their  high  reward,  in  finding 
difficulties  vanish,  objections  gradually  withdrawn,  and  in 
seeing  the  evidences  of  Geology  admitted  into  the  list  of 
witnesses  to  the  truth  of  the  great  fundamental  doctrines  of 
Theology.f 


*  A  study  of  the  natural  world  teaches  not  the  truths  of  revealed  religion, 
nor  do  the  truths  of  religion  inform  us  of  the  inductions  of  physical  science. 
Hence  it  is,  tliat  men  whose  studies  are  too  much  confined  to  one  branch  of 
knowledge,  often  learn  to  overrate  themselves,  and  so  become  narrow- 
minded.  Bigotry  is  a  besetting  sin  of  our  nature.  Too  often  it  has  been 
the  attendant  of  religious  zeal :  but  it  is  perhaps  most  bitter  and  unsparing 
when  found  with  the  irreligious.  A  philosopher,  understanding  not  one 
atom  of  their  spirit,  will  sometimes  scoff  at  the  labours  of  religious  men ; 
and  one  who  calls  himself  religious  will  perhaps  return  a  like  harsii 
judgment,  and  thank  God  that  he  is  not  as  the  philosophers, — fogetting  all 
the  while,  that  man  can  ascend  to  no  knowledge,  except  by  faculties  given 
to  him  by  his  Creator's  hand,  and  that  all  natural  knowledge  is  but  a  re- 
flection of  the  will  of  God.  In  harsh  judgmentssuch  as  these,  there  is  not 
only  much  folly,  but  much  sin.  True  wisdom  consists  in  seeing  how  all 
the  faculties  of  the  mind,  and  all  parts  of  knowledge  bear  upon  each  other, 
so  as  to  work  together  to  a  common  end;  ministering  at  once  to  the  happi- 
ness of  man,  and  his  Maker's  glory. — Sedgwick's  Discourse  on  the  Studies 
of  the  University,  Cambridge,  1833,  App.  note  F.  p.  102, 103. 

t  One  of  the  most  distinguished  and  powerful  Theological  writers  of 
our  time,  who  about  20  years  ago  devoted  a  chapter  of  his  work  on  the 
Evidence  of  the  Christian  Revelation,  to  the  refutation  of  what  he  then 
called  "  the  Scepticism  of  Geologists,"  has  in  his  recent  publication  on 
Natural  Theology,  commenced   his    considerations    respecting  the  origin 


GEOLOGICAL  PROOF  OF  A  DEITY.  443 

The  whole  coarse  of  the  inquiry  which  we  have  now  con- 
ducted to  its  close,  has  shown  that  the  physical  history  of 
our  globe,  in  which  some  have  seen  only  Waste,  Disorder, 
and  Confusion,  teems  with  endless  examples  of  Economy, 
and  Order,  and  Design  ;  and  the  result  of  all  our  researches , 
carried  back  through  the  unwritten  records  of  past  time, 
has  been  to  fix  more  steadily  our  assurance  of  the  Existence 
of  One  supreme  Creator  of  all  things,  to  exalt  more  highly 
our  conviction  of  the  immensity  of  his  Perfections,  of  his 
Might,  and  Majesty,  his  Wisdom,  and  Goodness,  and  all 
sustaining  Providence  ;  and  to  penetrate  our  understanding 
with  a  profound  and  sensible  perception,*  of  the  "  high  Ve- 
neration man's  intellect  owes  to  God."f 

The  Earth  from  her  deep  foundations  unites  with  the  celes- 
tial orbs  that  roll  through  boundless  space,  to  declare  the 
glory  and  show  forth  the  praise  of  their  common  Author 
and  Preserver ;  and  the  voice  of  Natural  Religion  accords 
harmoniously  with  the  testimonies  of  Revelation,  in  ascribing 
the  origin  of  the  Universe  to  the  will  of  One  eternal,  and 
dominant  Intelligence,  the  Almighty  Lord  and  supreme  first 
cause  of  all  things  that  subsist — "  the  same  yesterday  to-day 
and  for  ever" — "  before  the  Mountains  were  brought  forth, 
or  Ever  the  Earth  and  the  World  were  made,  God  from 
everlasting  and  world  without  End." 

of  the  world,  with  what  he  now  terms  "The  Geological  argument  in  behalf 
of  a  Diety."     Chalmers's  Natural  Theology,  V.  1.  p.  229.      Glasgow,  1835. 

For  Dr.  Chalmars's  interpretation  of  Genesis  i.  1.  et  seq.  see  Edinburgh 
Christian  Instructor,  April,  1814. 

*  "Though  I  cannot  with  eyes  of  flesh  behold  the  invisible  God;  yet,  I 
do  in  the  strictest  sense  behold  and  perceive  by  all  my  senses  such  signs 
and  tokens,  such  effects  and  operations  as  suggest,  indicate,  and  demon- 
strate an  invisible  God." — Berkeley's  Minute  Philosopher,  Dial.  iv.  c,  5. 

t  Boyle, 


SUPPLEMENTARY    NOTES. 


P.  36.  Since  the  publication  of  my  first  edition,  I  have  been 
favoured  by  the  Rev.  G.  S.  Faber  with  a  communication  of  his 
opinion  respecting  the  views  propounded  in  my  second  Chapter, 
on  the  Consistency  of  Geological  discoveries  with  Sacred  History, 
and  am  much  gratified  by  his  permission  to  state,  that  he  is  satis- 
fied my  views  upon  this  subject  are  consistent  with  a  critical  inter- 
pretation of  the  Hebrew  text  of  those  verses  in  Genesis,  with  which 
they  may  at  first  sight  appear  to  be  at  variance. 

This  opinion  of  Mr.  Faber  is  enhanced  in  value,  by  his  adopting 
it  to  the  exclusion  of  a  different  opinion  published  in  his  Treatise 
on  the  Three  Dispensations,  (1824,)  in  which  itAvas  attempted  to 
reconcile  Geological  Phenomena  with  the  Mosaic  History,  by 
supposing  each  of  the  demiurgic  days  to  be  periods  of  many  thou- 
sand years. 

Respecting  this  subject,  I  have  been  much  surprised  to  find 
myself  misrepresented,  as  inclining  to  the  opinion  that  each  day  of 
the  creation,  recorded,  in  the  Mosaic  Narrative,  comprehended  a 
space  of  many  thousand  years.  In  my  second  Chapter  (P.  24  et 
seq.)  I  have  stated  that  this  opinion  has  been  entertained,  both  by 
learned  Theologians  and  by  Geologists,  but  is  not  entirely  sup- 
ported by  Geological  facts,  and  have  adopted  the  hypothesis  which 
supposes  an  undefined  amount  of  time  to  have  elapsed  between 
the  creation  of  the  matter  of  the  Universe,  and  that  of  the  Human 
race.     According  to  this  view,  placing  the  Beginning  at  an  inde^ 

VOL.  I.— 38 


446  SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES. 

finite  distance  before  the  first  of  the  six  days  described  in  the 
I  Mosaic  History  of  creation,  I  see  no  reason  for  extending  the 
length  of  any  of  these  beyond  a  natural  day;  and  I  suppose  that  an 
interval  sufficient  to  afford  all  the  time  required  by  the  Phenomena 
of  Geology,  elapsed  between  the  prior  creation  of  the  Universe 
recorded  in  the  first  verse  of  Genesis,  and  that  later  creation,  of 
which  an  account  is  given  in  the  third  and  following  verses,  and 
which  has  especial  relation  to  the  preparation  of  the  Earth  for  the 
abode  of  man.  At  p.  29,  it  is  shown  in  a  Note  by  Prof.  Pusey, 
that  the  notion  of  such  a  prior  act  of  creation  was  entertained  by 
many  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Church,  and  also  by  Luther. 

P.  42.  Professor  Kersten  has  found  distinctly  formed  crystals 
of  prismatic  Felspar  on  the  walls  of  a  furnace  in  which  Copper 
slate  and  Copper  Ores  had  been  melted.  Among  these  pyro- 
chemically  formed  crystals,  some  were  simple,  others  twin. 
They  are  composed  of  Silica,  Alumina,  and  Potash.  This  dis- 
covery is  very  important,  in  a  geological  point  of  view,  from  its 
bearing  on  the  theory  of  the  igneous  origin  of  crystalline  rocks, 
in  which  Felspar  is  usually  so  large  an  ingredient.  Hitherto 
every  attempt  to  make  felspar  crystals  by  artificial  means  has 
failed.  See  Poggendorfs  Annalen,  No.  22,  1834,  and  Jameson's 
Edin.  New  Phil.  Journal. 

Professor  Mitscherlich  has  also  succeeded  in  producing  syn- 
thetically, by  the  action  of  Heat,  artificial  crystals  of  Mica;  these 
are  difficult  to  make,  unless  the  ingredients  pass  very  slowly  from 
a  fluid  to  a  solid  state;  as  they  are  supposed  to  have  done,  in  an 
infinitely  greater  degree,  in  the  formation  of  Granite,  and  other 
Primary  Hocks,  of  which  Mica  forms  a  large  ingredient.  In  more 
recent  igneous  rocks  of  the  Trap  formation,  in  which  Mica  is  rare, 
and  crystals  of  Pyroxene  abound,  it  is  probable  that  the  cooling 
process  was  much  more  rapid,  than  in  rocks  of  the  Granitic  series; 
and  crystals  of  Pyroxene  have  been  formed  synthetically  by 
Mitscherlich,  from  their  melted  elements,  under  much  more  rapid 
cooling  than  is  required  to  produce  artificial  Mica. 

The  experiments  of  Sir  James  Hall,  on  whinstone  and  lava, 
made  in  1798,  first  showed  the  efiects  of  slow  and  gradual  cool- 
ing in   reproducing  bodies  of  tliis  kind  in  a  crystalline   state. 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES. 


447 


Similar  experiments  were  repeated  on  a  larger  scale,  by  Mr. 
Gregory  Watt,  in  1804.  Sir  James  Hall's  experiments  on  repro- 
ducing artificial  limestone  and  crystalline  marble,  were  made 
in  1805. 

Mr.  Whewell,  in  his  Report  on  Mineralogy  to  the  British  Asso- 
ciation at  Oxford,  1832,  refers  to  observations  of  Dr.  Wallaston 
and  Professor  Miller  on  crystals  of  Titanium,  and  Olivine,  found 
in  the  slag  of  Iron  furnaces;  and  to  the  experiments  of  Mits- 
cherlich  and  Berthier  on  artificial  crystals,  similar  to  those  found 
in  Nature,  obtained  by  them  in  the  furnace  by  direct  synthesis, 
regulated  by  the  Atomic  Theory.  With  respect  also  to  artificial 
crystals  obtained  in  the  humid  way,  he  refers  to  the  observations 
and  experiments  on  artificial  salts,  by  Brooke,  Haidenger,  and 
Beudant,  and  to  the  experiments  of  Haldat,  Becquerel,  and 
Repetli. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  British  Association  at  Bristol,  August, 
1836,  Mr.  Crosse  communicated  the  results  of  his  experiments 
in  making  artificial  crystals  by  means  of  long  continued  galvanic 
action,  of  low  intensity,  produced  by  water  batteries  on  humid 
solutions  of  the  elements  of  various  crystalline  bodies  that  occur 
in  the  mineral  kingdom;  and  stated,  that  he  had  in  this  way 
obtained  artificial  crystals  of  Quartz,  Arragonite,  Carbonates  of 
Lime,  Lead,  and  Copper,  and  more  than  20  other  artificial 
minerals.  One  regularly  shaped  crystal  of  Quartz,  measuring 
f'g-  of  an  inch  in  length,  and  y\  in  diameter,  and  readily  scratching 
glass,  was  formed  from  fluo-silicic  acid  exposed  to  the  electric 
action  of  a  water  battery  from  the  8th  of  March  to  the  latter  end 
of  June,  1836. 

P.  .58,  Note.  In  the  note  respecting  the  Fresh- water  shells 
which  occur  in  the  upper  region  of  the  great  Coal  formation,  I 
have  omitted  to  refer  to  an  important  discovery  of  Mr.  Murchison, 
(1831-32,)  who  has  traced  a  peculiar  band  of  limestone,  charged 
with  the  remains  of  Fresh-water  animals,  e.  g.  Paludina,  Cyclas, 
and  microscopic  Planorboid  shells,  interposed  between  the  upper 
Coal  measures,  from  the  edge  of  the  Breiddin  hills,  on  the  N.  W. 
of  Shrewsbury,  to  the  banks  of  the  Severn,  near  Bridgnorth,  a 
distance  of  about  thirty  miles;  and  has  farther  shown  that  the  Coal 


448  SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES. 

measures,  containing  this  "  lacnstrine  "  limestone,  pass  upwards 
conformably  into  the  Lower  New  Red  Sand-stone  of  the  central 
counties.  (See  Proceedings  Geol.  Soc.  V.  i.  p.  472.)  The  chief 
localities  of  the  Shropshire  limestone  are  Pontesbury,  Uffington, 
liC  Botwood,  and  Tasley. 

Beds  of  limestone,  occupying  a  similar  geological  position,  and 
containing  the  same  organic  remains,  (some  of  which  belong  to  the 
well  known  deposite  at  Burdie  House,  near  Edinburgh,)  have  more 
recently  been  recognised  at  Ardwick,  near  Manchester;  these  beds 
were  identified  with  those  of  Shropshire,  by  Professor  Philips 
(Brit.  Assoc.  Adv.  of  Science,  1836,)  and  have  also  been  described 
by  Mr.  Williamson,  Phil.  Mag.  October,  1836. 

P.  64,  Note,  and  369,  Aote.  The  Coal  of  Blickeberg,  in 
Nassau,  respecting  which  various  opinions  have  been  entertained, 
some  referring  it  to  the  Green  sand,  and  others  to  the  Oolite  series, 
has  been  determined  by  Prof.  Hoffmann  to  belong  to  the  Wealden 
Fresh-water  formation. 

See  Roemer's  Versteinerungen  des  Norddeutschen  Oolithen 
Gebirges.     Hanover,  1836. 

P.  75.  An  account  has  recendy  been  received  from  India  of 
the  discovery  of  an  unknown  and  very  curious  fossil  ruminating 
animal,  nearly  as  large  as  an  Elephant,  which  supplies  a  new 
and  important  link  in  the  Order  of  Mammalia,  between  the 
Ruminantia  and  Pachydermata.  A  detailed  description  of  this 
animal  has  been  published  by  Dr.  Falconer  and  Captain  Cautley, 
who  have  given  it  the  name  of  Sivatherium,  from  the  Sivalic  or 
Sub-Himalayan  range  of  hills  in  which  it  was  found,  between 
the  Jumna  and  the  Ganges.  In  size  it  exceeded  the  largest 
Rhinoceros.  The  head  has  been  discovered  nearly  entire.  The 
front  of  the  skull  is  remarkably  wide,  and  retains  the  bony  cores 
of  two  short  thick  and  straight  horns,  similar  in  position  to  those 
of  the  four  horned  Antelope  of  Ilindostan.  Tiie  nasal  bones  are 
salient  in  a  degree  without  example  among  Ruminants,  exceeding 
in  this  respect  those  of  the  Rhinoceros,  Tapir,  and  Palajotherium, 
the  only  herbivorous  animals  that  have  this  sort  of  structure. 
Hence  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  Sivatherium  was  invested  with  a 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES.  449' 

trunk,  and  probably  this  organ  had  an  intermediate  character  be- 
tween the  trunk  of  the  Tapir  and  that  of  the  Elephant.  Its  jaw  is 
twice  as  large  as  that  of  a  Buflalo,  and  larger  than  that  of  a  Rhino- 
ceros. The  remains  of  the  Sivatherium  were  accompanied  by 
those  of  the  Elephant,  Mastodon,  Rhinoceros,  Hippopotamus, 
several  Ruminantia,  &c. 

We  have  seen  (p.  74)  that  there  is  a  wider  distance  between  the 
living  Genera  of  the  Order  Pachydermata  than  between  those  oC 
any  other  Order  of  Mammalia,  and  that  many  intervals  in  the 
series  of  these  animals  have  been  filled  up  by  extinct  Genera  and 
Species,  discovered  in  strata  of  the  Tertiary  series.  The  Siva- 
therium forms  an  important  addition  to  the  extinct  Genera  of  this 
intermediate  and  connecting  character.  The  value  of  such  links 
with  reference  to  considerations  ia  Natural  Theology  has  been 
already  alluded  to,  p.  95. 

P.  77.  Farther  light  has  recently  been  thrown  on  the  history 
of  the  organic  remains  of  the  Miocene  system^  of  the  Tertiary 
deposites,  by  an  account  of  discoveries  made  in  the  strata  of  this 
formation  in  the  South  of  France,  near  the  base  of  tlie  Pyrenees. 
On  the  16th  of  January,  1837,  a  Memoir  was  presented  to  the 
Academy  of  Sciences  at  Paris,  by  M.  Lartet,  respcctiiig  a  prodi- 
gious number  of  fossil  bones  that  have  been  lately  found  in  the 
tertiary  fresh-water  formation,  of  Simorre,  Sansan,  &c.,  in  the 
department  of  Gers.  Among  these  remains  are  bones  of  more 
than  30  species,  referable  to  nearly  all  the  orders  of  Mammalia^^ 
The  most  remarkable  among  them  is  the  lower  jaw  of  an  Ape,, 
which  presents  the  first  fossil  type  of  the  order  Quadrumana  yet 
discovered.  The  individual  from  wliich  this  jaw  was  derived,  was 
probably  about  30  inches  high. 

The  following  is  a  List  of  the  Genera  under  which  these  fossij 
remains  axe  comprehended.. 

Quadrumana.     Si7nia,  one  species. 

PACHYDiiRMATA.  Diiwlherlum ,  two  species.  Mastadrm,  five 
species,  llhinoceros,  three  species.  One  new  anin^al  allied  to. 
Rhinoceros.  Folxotherium,  one  species.  Anoplolherumi,  one 
species.  One  extinct  species  allied  to  JinthracotJuraan,  On?; 
extinct  species  allied  to  Sus. 

38* 


450  SUPPLEMENTARY    NOTES. 

Carnivora.  Canis,  one  Species.  A  new  Genus,  between  a 
Dog  and  a  Rackoon,  one  large  species.  Felis,  one  large  species. 
Genefta,  animal  allied  to.  Coali,  animal  allied  to  Coali,  large  as 
a  White  Bear. 

RoDENTiA.  Lepus,  one  small  species.  Many  other  small 
species  of  Rodents  not  yet  determined. 

RuMiNANTiA.  l>o«,  one  species,  .-^n/e/o/^e^  one  species.  Cerviis, 
several  species. 

Edentata.     One  large  unknown  species. 

M.  de  Blainville,  who  is  about  to  publish  an  account  of  these 
remains,  points  out  their  importance  in  illustrating  the  ancient 
Zoology  of  France,  since,  in  a  single  locality,  which  was  formerly 
a  Basin,  receiving  an  abundance  of  alluvial  waters,  we  find  con-- 
fusedly  mixed  together  in  a  Tertiary  fresh-water  formation,  scat- 
tered and  broken  bones  and  iVagments  of  skeletons  of  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  fossil  Quadrupeds  which  are  found  dispersed  over 
the  Tertiary  strata  of  the  rest  of  France,  and  derived  from  genera 
of  almost  all  the  orders  of  Mammalia. — Comptes  rendus,  No.  3. 
Jan.  16,  1837.  These  remains  appear  to  be  of  the  same  age  with 
those  of  Epplesheim. 

P.  89.  In  September,  1835,  the  author  saw  at  Liege  the 
very  extensive  collection  of  fossil  Bones  made  by  M.  Schmer- 
ling  in  the  caverns  of  that  neighbourhood,  and  visited  some 
of  the  places  where  they  Avere  found.  Many  of  these  bones 
appear  to  have  been  brought  together  like  those  in  the  cave 
of  Kirkdale,  by  the  agency  of  Hysenas,  and  have  evidently 
been  gnawed  by  these  animals;  otliers,  particularly  those  of 
Bears,  are  not  broken,  or  gnawed,  but  very  probably  collected  in 
the  same  manner  as  the  bones  of  Bears  in  the  cave  of  Gailenreuth, 
by  the  retreat  of  these  animals  into  the  recesses  of  caverns  on  the 
approach  of  death;  some  may  have  been  introduced  by  the  action 
of  water. 

The  human  bones  found  in  these  caverns  are  in  a  state  of  less 
decay  than  those  of  the  extinct  species  of  beasts;  they  are  accom- 
panied by  rude  flint  knives  and  other  instruments  of  flint  and  bone, 
and  are  probably  derived  from  uncivilized  tribes  that  inhabited 
the  caves..    Some  of  the  human  bones  may  also  be  the  remains  of 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES.  451 

individuals  who,  in  more  recent  times,  have  been  buried  in  such 
convenient  repositories.  M.  Schmerling,  in  his  Recherches  sur 
les  Ossemens  Fossiles  des  Cavernes  de  Liege,  expresses  his 
opinion  that  these  human  bones  are  coeval  with  those  of  the  quad- 
rupeds, of  extinct  species,  found  with  them;  an  opinion  from  which 
the  Author,  after  a  careful  examination  of  M.  Schmerling's  collec- 
tion, entirely  dissents. 

P.  109.  The  Dinotherium  has  been  spoken  of  as  the  largest 
of  terrestrial  Mammalia,  and  as  presenting  in  its  lower  Jaw  and 
Tusks  a  disposition  of  an  extraordinary  kind,  adapted  to  the 
peculiar  habits  of  a  gigantic  herbivorous  aquatic  Quadruped.  In 
the  autumn  of  1836  an  entire  head  of  this  animal  was  discovered 
at  Epplesheim,  measuring  about  four  feet  in  length  and  three  feet 
in  breadth;  Professor  Kaup  and  Dr.  Klipstein  have  recently  pub- 
lished a  description  and  figures  of  this  head,  (P.  45],)  in  which 
they  state  that  the  very  remarkable  form  and  dispositions  of  the 
hinder  part  of  the  skull,  show  it  to  have  been  connected  with 
muscles  of  extraordinary  power,  to  give  that  kind  of  movement  to 
the  head  which  would  admit  of  the  peculiar  action  of  the  tusks  in 
digging  into  and  tearing  up  the  earth.  They  farther  observe,  that 
my  conjectures  (P.  Ill)  respecting  the  aquatic  habits  of  this  ani- 
mal, are  confirmed  by  approximations  in  the  form  of  the  occipital 
bone  to  the  occiput  of  Cetacea;  the  Dinotherium,  in  this  structure, 
affordipg  anew  and  important  link  between  the  Cetacea  and  Pachy- 
dermata.  More  than  30  species  of  fossil  Mammalia  have  now 
been  found  at  Epplesheim. 

P.  130.  Mr.  C.  Darwin  has  deposited  in  the  Museum  of  the 
Royal  College  of  Surgeons,  London,  a  most  interesting  series  of 
fossil  bones  of  extinct  Mammalia,  discovered  by  him  in  South 
America.  I  learn  from  Mr.  Owen  "  that  these  include  two,  if  not 
three  distinct  species  of  Edentata,  intermediate  in  size,  between 
the  Megatherium  and  the  largest  living  species  of  Armadillo 
{Dasypiis  Gigas,  Cuv,,)  all  similarly  protected  by  an  armour  of 
bony  tubercles,  and  making  the  transition  from  the  Megatherium 
more  directly  to  the  existing  Armadillos,  than  to  the  Sloths.  A 
still  more  interesting  fossil,  is  the  cranium  of  a  quadruped,  which 


452  SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES. 

must  have  rivalled  the  Hippopotamus  in  dimensions,  bu<t  which, 
has  the  dentition  of  an  animal  of  the  Rodent  Order;  and  it  is 
worthy  of  remark,  that  the  largest  living  species  of  that  order,  the 
Capybara,  is  peculiar  to  South  America.  Mr.  Darwin  has  also 
collected  fragments  of  a  small  Rodent,  closely  allied  to  the  Agouti; 
and  the  remains  of  an  Ungulate  quadruped,  of  the  size  of  a  Camel; 
and  which  forms  a  link  between  the  aberrant  group  of  Rumi- 
nantia  to  which  the  Camels  and  Llamas  belong,  and  the  order 
Pachydermata." 

P.  154,  In  the  summer  of  1836,  Mr.  Murchison  discovered  at 
Ludlow,  in  the  sandy  slate  rocks  that  form  the  upper  members 
of  the  Silurian  System,  a  very  curious  Bed,  from  one  to  five  or 
six  inches  thick,  almost  entirely  composed  of  dislocated  bones, 
teeth,  and  scales  of  Fishes,  intermixed  with  numerous  small 
coprolites.  In  all  these  circumstances  of  its  organic  remains,  this 
bed  resembles  the  stratum  called  the  hone  bed,  at  the  bottom  of 
the  Lias  on  the  banks  of  the  Severn,  near  Aust  Passage,  and  near 
Watchet,  which  is  similarly  loaded  with  bones,  teeth,  and  copro- 
lites derived  from  Fishes,  and  with  dislocated  bones  of  Reptiles. 
This  Ludlow  Bone  bed  affords  the  first  example  yet  noticed,  of 
remains  which  prove  the  abundant  existence  of  Fishes  in  that  early 
period  of  the  Transition  series,  when  the  upper  strata  of  the  Silu- 
rian system  were  deposited. 

The  occurrence  of  teeth,  scales,  bones,  and  coprolites  derived 
from  Fishes,  in  strata  orthe  Carboniferous  system,  is  noticed  at  p. 
209,  and  p.  210,  Note. 


P.  102.  The  opinion  that  the  colour  of  the  skin  of  the  Chame- 
leon was  varied  by  the  varied  intensity  of  its  inspirations,  has  been 
recently  disproved  by  Dr.  Milne  Edwards,  who  has  shown  that 
this  variation  is  produced  by  changes  in  the  disposition  of  layers? 
of  differently  coloured  membranous  pigments,  placed  one  above 
another  under  the  cuticle,  and  capable  of  such  changes  that  one 
may  sometimes  hide  the  other.  Hence  it  follows  that  the  conjec- 
ture of  Cuvier  is  not  verified,  which  attributed  to  the  Plesiosaurus 
tlie  possibility  of  its  having  been  able  to  change  the  colour  of  it's 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES.  453 

skin,  in  consequence  of  the  resemblance  in  the  structure  of  its  ribs 
to  that  of  the  ribs  of  the  Chameleon, 

See  Penny  Cyclopaedia,  Vol.  VI.  p.  474,  et  seq. 

P.  166.  A  remarkable  exemplification  of  the  exquisite  Power 
of  the  human  hand  has  been  communicated  to  me  by  Mr.  James 
Gardner,  of  Regent  Street,  London,  from  whom  I  learn  that  he 
has  with  his  own  hand,  aided  by  the  sense  of  touch  alone,  and 
with  his  eyes  shut,  ruled  parallel  lines,  which  being  examined  with 
a  micrometer,  were  found  to  be  at  the  exact  distance  of  2 t'j o  °^ 
an  inch  from  one  another.  With  his  unarmed  eye  he  cannot  dis- 
tinctly see  lines  that  are  more  distant  from  one  another  than  ~jy 
of  an  inc?i.  In  this  case  the  sense  of  touch  is  more  acute  than 
that  of  sight  in  the  ratio  of  8  to  1.  'Mr.  Gardner  is  also  able, 
without  the  assistance  of  any  instrument,  to  draw  a  perfect  circle 
or  a  perfect  ellipse,  moving  his  hand  on  the  wrist  as  a  centre. 

P.  222.  "  The  senses  of  Conchifersmust  be  very  confined;  and 
indeed  there  is  no  good  ground  for  attributing  to  the  generality 
of  them  any  thing  beyond  a  sense  of  touch  and  taste.  That  most 
of  them  may  be  conscious  of  the  presence  or  absence  of  light  is 
possible.  "Not  having  any  especial  organs  for  seeing,  hearing, 
or  smelling,"  says  Sir  Anthony  Carlisle,  speaking  of  the  common 
oyster  in  his  Hunterian  Oration  (1826,)  "the  creature  is  limited 
to  perceive  no  other  impressions  but  those  of  immediate  contact; 
and  yet  every  part  of  its  exterior  seems  to  be  sensible  to  light, 
sounds,  odours,  and  liquid  stimulants.  It  is  asserted  by  fisher- 
men, that  oysters,  in  confined  beds,  may  be  seen,  if  the  water  is 
clear,  to  close  their  shells  whenever  the  shadow  of  a  boat  passes 
over  them." 

"  M.  Deshayes  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that  no  especial  organ  of 
sense  can  be  detected  among  them,  unless,  perhaps,  those  of 
touch  and  taste;  but  we  must  not  forget  what  have  been  called 
the  eye-specks  in  the  Pecten,  to  the  animal  of  which  Poll  gave 
the  name  of  Argus,  from  the  supposed  number  of  its  visual  organs. 
The  pectens  are  free  swimmers,  and,  from  their  rapid  and  desultory 
motions,  we  have  heard  them  termed  the  butterflies  of  the  ocean. 
The  manner  in  which  these  motions  are  executed,  especially  011 


454  SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES. 

the  approach  of  danger,  indicates  the  possession  of  a  sense  ana- 
logous, at  least,  to  that  of  ordinary  vision.  These  eye-specks  may 
be  seen  in  the  Pecten,  placed  at  short  intervals  round  the  thick- 
ened edge  of  the  mantle,  on  the  outworks,  as  it  were,  of  the 
internal  part  of  the  animal  fabric.  '  As  locomotion  so  vision  '  is  a 
general  aphorism  not  without  its  particular  exception;  for  there 
is  good  reason  for  believing  that  Spondi/lus,  which  is  a  fixture  in 
its  adult  state,  is  furnished  with  these  visual  specks."  (Penny 
Cyclopaedia,  vol.  vii.  p.  432,  et  seq.  Article  Conchifera.)  Ehren- 
berg  has  described  the  eyes  of  the  Medusa  aurita  to  be  in  the 
form  of  minute  red  points  on  the  circumference  of  the  disk.  He 
has  also  ascertained  the  existence  of  small  red  eye-specks  at  the 
extremity  of  the  rays  of  the  Asterias. 

P.  248.     The  specific  gravity  of  a  body,  is  its  weight,  com- 
pared with  the  weight  of  another  body,  whose  magnitude  is  the 
same;  hence,  if  a  body  which  occupies  any  given  space  in  water 
be  contracted  into  a  smaller  magnitude,  whilst  its  absolute  weight 
remains   the  same,   it  becomes  specifically  heavier.     Supposing 
the  absolute  weiglit  of  the  body  of  the  Nautilus,  and  also  that  of 
its  pericardial  fluid,  to  be  the  same  as  that  of  an  equal  bulk  of 
water,    the    body,    when    immersed,    would    always    displace   a 
quantity  of  water,  equal  to  its  bulk.     The  presence  of  the  peri- 
cardial fluid  within  the  body,  (i.  e.  within  the  Pericardium,)  or 
its  removal  from  it  into  the  shell,  would  not  aff'ect  the  specific 
gravity  of  the  body,  because  the  magnitude  of  the  body  varies 
according  as  the  pericardium  is  either  empty,  or  distended  with 
its  peculiar  fluid.     But,  as  the  magnitude  of  the  shell  is  con- 
stantly the  same,  whilst  the  quantity  of  matter  within  it  varies, 
as  the  pericardial  fluid  enters  or  leaves  the  siphuncle,  its  specific 
gravity  is  varied   accordingly,  being   increased,  when  the  fluid 
enters  the   siphuncle  (compressing  the   air  within  the  air-cham- 
bers,) and  diminished,  when  this  fluid  returns  from  the  siphuncle 
into  the  body. 

When  the  animal,  preparing  to  rise,  emerges,  from  its  shell,  and 
the  pericardial  fluid,  returning  from  the  siphuncle  into  the  peri- 
cardial sac,  enlarges  the  body  by  the  distension  of  this  sac,  the 
absolute  weight  of  the  body  and  shell  together  remains  the  same, 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES.  455 

but  the  specific  gravity  of  the  whole  is  diminished  by  this  increase 
of  the  bulk  of  the  body,  and  the  animal  floats.  When  preparing 
to  sink,  it  shrinks  back  into  its  shell,  and  compressing  the  peri- 
cardial sac,  forces  its  contents  into  the  siphuncle,  the  bulk  of 
the  body  is  diminished  by  the  collapse  of  this  sac  to  an  amount 
equal  to  the  difference  between  the  bulk  of  the  distended  and 
contracted  sac,  the  whole  becomes  specifically  heavier,  and  the 
animal  sinks. 

For  the  sake  of  simplifying  the  problem  we  have  supposed 
the  specific  gravities  both  of  the  pericardial  fluid,  and  of  the 
body  of  the  animal,  to  be  the  same  as  that  of  water.  If,  as  Mr. 
Owen  affirms,  the  pericardial  fluid  is  more  dense  than  water, 
its  transfer  into  the  siphuncle  will  be  more  efficacious  in  causing 
the  shell  to  sink,  because  a  fluid,  whose  specific  gravity  is 
greater  than  that  of  an  equal  bulk  of  water,  is  added  to  the 
shell,  without  increasing  its  magnitude;  but  when  the  same 
fluid  returns  into  the  body,  the  consequent  addition  to  the  specific 
gravity  of  the  body,  is  only  the  difference  between  the  specific 
gravity  of  this  fluid  and  that  of  water;  and  this  is  more  than  coun- 
terbalanced by  the  diminution  of  specific  gravity  which  the 
body  undergoes  from  the  expansion  of  the  retractile  tentacula, 
and  consequent  enlargement  of  their  magnitude.  The  same 
tentacula,  when  the  animal  shrinks  back  into  its  shell,  are  con- 
tracted into  a  smaller  magnitude,  and  increase  the  tendency  of  the 
shell  to  sink. 

In  the  Water  balloon  and  apparatus  connected  with  it,  referred 
to  at  p.  241  and  p.  248,  the  tall  glass,  and  membrane  which 
covers  it,  represent  the  Pericardium  of  the  Nautilus;  the  water 
which  fills  the  glass  acts  like  the  pericardial  fluid,  and  if  a  small 
empty  bladder  were  attached  to  the  neck  of  the  Balloon,  and  sus- 
pended, like  an  artificial  siphuncle,  within  its  cavity,  the  bladder, 
when  filled  with  water,  would  represent  the  siphuncle  of  the 
Nautilus,  when  filled  with  pericardial  fluid;  and  the  air  within  the 
chamber  of  the  Balloon,  would  represent  that  within  the  chambers 
of  the  Nautilus. 

The  diflTerence  would  be,  that  in  the  case  of  the  Nautilus,  the 
entire  Pericardium  is  a  flexible  membrane,  and  that  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  pericardial  fluid  may  be  forced  into  the  siphuncle; 


456  SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES. 

whilst  in  the  water  Balloon,  the  membrane  only  at  the  top  of  the 
glass  is  flexible,  and  a  small  part  only  of  the  water  in  the  glass 
can  be  forced  into  the  Balloon. 

The  principle  which  causes  a  change  in  the  specific  gravity, 
by  varying  the  quantity  of  matter,  within  the  shell  and  within 
the  Balloon,  without  varying  their  respective  magnitudes,  is  the 
same. 

P.  249.*  The  tentacula  which  when  expanded  around  the 
head,  would  impede  any  progressive  motion  of  the  animal,  would 
follow  the  retrograde  body  and  shell,  without  causing  any 
material  retardation.  The  part  of  the  shell  also  which  is  foremost 
in  all  the  retrograde  movements  of  the  animal,  in  the  act  of  ascend- 
ing and  descending,  and  also  in  swimming  at  the  surface,  is  that 
which  receives  the  least  resistance  from  the  fluid  through  which 
it  moves,  and  at  the  same  time  presents  the  strongest  part  or  back 
of  the  shell  to  any  body  against  Avhich  it  may  strike,  either  when 
floating  on  the  surface,  or  on  arriving  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea. 

P.  250.  Mr.  Owen  observes,  that  the  Hood,  or  flattened  mus- 
cular disk  of  the  Nautilus  Pompilius,  seems  calculated  to  act  as 
the  chief  locomotive  organ  in  creeping  at  the  bottom;  and  in  the 
supine  position  of  the  animal,  bears  considerable  analogy  to  the 
foot  of  a  Gasteropod;  in  a  state  of  rest  and  retraction  it  would 
serve,  like  an  operculum,  as  a  rigid  defence  at  the  outlet  of  the 
shell.  {See  Owen  on  the  Pearly  Nautilus,  p.  12.)  The  animal 
may  also  assist  its  movements  along,  and  adhesion  to  the  bottom, 
by  some  of  its  numerous  tentacula. 

P.  251.t  In  the  case  of  animals  possessing  a  siphuncle  and 
chambered  shell,  but  having  no  means  to  fill  the  siphuncle  with 
pericardial  fluid,  the  admission  and  abstraction  of  any  other 
secreted  fluid,  or  of  water,  to  and  from  the  siphuncle,  would  have 
a  similar  effect  to  that  of  the  pericardial  fluid  of  the  Nautilus,  in 
varying  the  specific  gravity.  It  may  perhaps  be  shown  hereafter, 
that  in  some  of  these  genera  an  organization  exists  fitted  to  fill  and 
empty  the  siphuncle  by  other  agency  than  that  of  the  Pericardium, 
and    possibly  with  water    admitted    from  the  branchial   cavity; 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES.  457 

but  as  we  know  that  the  Nautilus  Pompilius  possesses  in  its  peri- 
cardial fluid  and  siphuncle  a  sufficient  apparatus  to  effect  this 
purpose,  and  thereby  to  cause  the  rising  and  sinking  of  this 
animal;  and  as  we  find  in  the  Ammonites  and  many  extinct 
families  of  fossil  chambered  shells,  a  siphuncle  and  air-cham- 
bers, very  similar  to  those  of  the  Nautilus;  we  may  infer  from 
analogy,  that  mechanisms  so  similar,  as  to  those  parts  which 
have  escaped  destruction,  were  connected  with  soft  and  perishable 
parts,  corresponding  with  the  pericardial  apparatus  in  the  living 
Nautilus. 

It  is  of  little  importance,  however,  to  the  statical  theory  of 
siphuncular  action  here  proposed,  whether  the  fluid  alternately 
admitted  to  and  rejected  from  the  siphuncle  be  derived  from  the 
Pericardium,  or  from  any  other  source  within  the  body,  or  even 
from  the  sea;  in  the  former  case,  we  have  ascertained  the  existence 
of  a  mechanism  whereby  the  movements  of  the  pericardial  fluid  may 
be  effected,  as  in  the  Nautilus  Pompilius;  in  the  latter  cases  the 
mechanism  for  adjusting  the  passage  of  the  fluid  to  and  from  the 
siphuncle  remains  yet  to  be  discovered. 

In  the  case  of  siphons  which  are  surrounded  by  unyielding 
rigid  shell  throughout  their  whole  extent,  (as  in  the  Nautilus 
Sypho,)  the  elasticity  of  the  air  within  the  chambers  cannot  aid 
the  muscular  power  of  the  siphuncle,  in  regulating  the  action  of 
any  fluid  within  that  tube;  and  if  the  hypothesis  suggested  (P. 
271,  Note,)  respecting  this  species  should  be  inapplicable  to 
it,  and  to  other  animals  which  have  an  inflexible  shell  around  the 
siphuncle,  their  method  of  moving  the  fluid  to  and  from  this  organ 
is  yet  unknown. 

In  the  case  of  jointed  sheaths  like  those  at  PI,  32,  Fig.  3,  d,  c, 
f,  and  PI.  33,  each  calcareous  joint  (e,)  if  composed  of  rigid  shell, 
may  have  articulated  with  the  collars  of  the  adjacent  transverse 
plates  (/»,  i,)  so  as  to  form  a  moveable  collar  valve,  of  which  the 
superior  margin  being  raised  a  little  on  the  outside  of  the  upper 
collar  [h,)  would  leave  an  opening  between  the  lower  margin  of  the 
valve  and  the  inside  of  the  subjacent  collar  (z;)  through  this  open- 
ing air  might  pass  from  the  contiguous  air-chamber  into  the  space 
between  the  calcareous  sheath  and  membranous  siphon,  as  often 
as  it  was  emptied  of  its  pericardial  fluid,  and  when  this  fluid  filled 

VOL.  I.— 39 


45&  SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES. 

the  siphon,  the  air  might  return  by  the  same  passage  into  the  air- 
chamber,  and  the  lower  margin  of  the  valve  fall  into  its  socket 
within  the  lower  collar  (i.) 

It  is  possible  that  in  the  Spirula  and  other  animals  that  do  not 
withdraw  their  bodies  into  the  shell,  the  only  function  of  the  air- 
chambers  may  be  to  counterbalance  the  weight  of  the  body,  and 
give  it  buoyancy;  in  such  cases  the  use  of  the  siphuncle  may  be 
to  carry  down  to  the  extremity  of  the  shell,  and  send  off  into  each 
air-chamber,  vessels  necessary  to  maintain  the  vitality  of  the  interior 
of  the  shell,  and  of  the  transverse  septa.  The  mode  of  ascent  and 
descent  ascribed  to  the  Nautilus  Pompilius  is  inapplicable  to  such 
animals,  and  their  movements  are  probably  effected  by  muscular 
exertion  only. 

P.  310,  1.  20.  Mr.  Murchison  in  his  excellent  memoir  on  a 
fossil  Fox  found  in  the  Tertiary  Fresh-water  Formation  at  (Enin- 
gen,  near  Constance,  gives  a  list  of  many  genera  of  fossil  Insects 
as  well  as  of  Crustacea,  Fishes,  Reptiles,  Birds,  and  Mammalia, 
discovered  in  the  slaty  marl  and  limestone  of  these  very  interest- 
ing Quarries.     See  Geol.  Trans.  Lond.  N.  S.  V.  III.  p.  277. 

P.  310,  Note.  The  collection  of  fossil  Insects  from  Aix  de- 
scribed in  the  paper  here  referred  to,  was  made  by  Mr.  Lyell  in 
conjunction  with  Mr.  Murchison.  In  the  same  paper  is  noticed 
the  preservation  of  the  pubescence  on  the  head  of  one  of  the 
Diptera.  See  Ed.  New  Phil.  Journ.  Oct.  1829,  P.  294,  PI.  6, 
Fig.  12. 

P.  336.  In  the  concluding  note  of  my  first  edition,  I  men- 
tioned Ehrenberg's  discoveries  of  the  silicified  remains  of  fossil 
Infusoria  in  the  Tripoli,  or  polishing  slate,  (Polierschiefer  Werner,) 
from  Bilin  in  Bohemia,  and  from  four  other  localities,  and  also  his 
discovery  of  similar  remains  in  the  slimy  Iron  Ore  of  certain 
marshes.  I  am  now  enabled  to  extract  farther  information  from 
his  memoirs  upon  this  subject,  presented  to  the  Royal  Academy  of 
Berlin,  in  June  and  July  1836,  and  translated  in  Taylor's  Scien- 
tific Memoirs,  February,  1837. 

It  is  stated  in  this  memoir,  that  the  mineral  springs  of  Carisbad 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES.  459 

contain  living  species  of  Infusoria,  of  the  same  kind  that  occur 
in  sea  water,  near  Havre  in  France,  and  near  Wismar  on  the 
Bahic;  and  also  that  a  kind  of  siliceous  paste  called  Kieselguhr, 
found  in  nests  of  the  size  of  a  man's  fist  or  head,  in  a  Peat  Bog 
at  Franzenbad,  near  Eger,  consists  almost  entirely  of  minute 
siliceous  shields  of  a  species  of  Navicula,  N.  viridis,  which  is 
now  living  in  fresh-water,  near  Berlin,  and  widely  diffused  else- 
where. The  remains  of  Infusoria  also  almost  entirely  compose  the 
Kieselguhr  of  the  Isle  of  France,  and  a  similar  substance  called 
Bergmehl,  from  San  Fiore,  in  Tuscany.  Nine  existing  species 
have  been  recognised  in  the  Kieselguhr  of  Franzenbad;  in  that 
of  the  Isle  of  France  five  species;  in  the  Bregmehl  of  San  Fiore 
nineteen  species;  in  the  Polierschiefer  of  Bilin  four  species.  In 
each  of  these  cases,  the  greater  number  of  the  species  are  the 
same  that  now  live  in  stagnant  fresh-water;  some  inhabit  saline 
mineral  waters,  and  a  few  live  in  the  sea.  The  total  number  of 
fossil  species  observed  is  twenty-eight,  fourteen  of  which  agree 
with  living  fresh-water  species  of  Infusoria,  and  five  with  living 
marine  species.  The  other  nine  probably  belong  to  living  species 
not  yet  discovered.  In  each  of  these  four  localities  one  species 
preponderates  largely  over  the  rest,  and  in  no  two  cases  is  it  the 
same  species.  The  Polierschiefer  of  Bilin  occupies  a  surface  of 
great  extent,  probably  the  site  of  an  ancient  lake,  and  forms 
slaty  strata  of  fourteen  feet  iu  thickness,  consisting  almost  entirely 
of  an  aggregation  of  the  siliceous  shields  of  Gaillondla  Distans. 
The  size  of  one  of  these  is  about  ^\j  of  a  line  which  is  about  i  of 
the  thickness  of  a  human  hair,  and  nearly  of  the  size  of  a  globule 
of  the  human  blood;  about  twenty-three  millions  of  animals  are 
contained  in  a  cubic  line  of  the  Polierschiefer,  and  41,000  millions 
in  a  cubic  inch;  a  cubic  inch  of  Polierschiefer,  weighs  220  grains, 
of  the  41,000  millions  of  animals,  187  millions  go  to  a  grain,  or 
the  siliceous  shield  of  each  animalcule  weighs  about  the  jI^  mil- 
lionth part  of  a  grain.  Siliceous  remains  of  Infusoria  have  recendv 
been  found  also  in  the  Polierschiefer  of  Planitz  and  Cassel. 

M.  de  Humboldt  has  recently  communicated  to  the  Academy 
of  sciences  at  Paris  (February  20,  1837,)  a  letter  from  Professor 
Retzius  of  Stockholm,  in  which  he  informs  Ehrenberg  that  a  sub- 
stance called  Bergmehl,  {Farine  de  monlagne,)  analyzed  and 


460  SUPPLEMENTARY    NOTES. 

described  by  Berzelius,  1833,  and  found  by  him  to  contain  Silex, 
animal  matter,  and  crenic  acid,  is  eaten  in  Lapland  in  seasons  of 
scarcity,  mixed  with  ground  corn  and  bark,  in  the  form  of  bread; 
in  1833  this  occurred  in  the  Commune  of  Degerfors.  M.  Retzius 
has  discovered  in  this  Bergmehl,  nineteen  species  of  Infusoria 
with  siliceous  shields.  This  deposits  appears  to  be  analogous  to 
tlie  Kieselguhr  of  Franzenbad. 

L'Institut,  22  Feb.  1837.     No.  198. 

Ehrenberg  has  farther  ascertained  that  a  soft  yellow  ochreous 
substance  called  Raseneisen,  (Marsh  Ochre,  or  Meadow  Earth,) 
which  is  found  in  large  quantities  every  spring  in  Marshes  about 
Berlin,  covering  the  bottom  of  ditches,  and  in  the  footsteps  of 
animals,  is  composed  in  part  of  Iron  secreted  by  Infusorial  animal- 
cules of  the  Genus  Gaillonella.  This  Iron  may  be  separated  from 
the  siliceous  shields  of  these  animals,  which  retain  their  form  after 
the  extraction  of  the  Iron.  He  has  also  detected  similar  ferruginous 
and  siliceous  remains  of  Infusoria  in  similar  ochreous  substances, 
from  the  Ural,  and  New  York,  and  also  in  a  yellow  earthy  sub- 
stance formed  on  the  surface  of  the  mineral  water  of  the  saltworks 
at  Colberg  and  Dlirrenberg.  This  substance  is  used  for  iron  colour 
in  house  painting  at  Colberg.  The  iron  secreted  by  these  animal- 
cules, and  connected  with  their  siliceous  shields,  forms  after  death 
a  nucleus  to  which  other  iron  is  attracted,  from  a  solution  of  this 
metal  in  the  water  which  these  animals  inhabit. 

In  another  communication,  Prof.  Ehrenberg  announces  that 
certain  indurated  and  heavy  portions  of  the  Polierschiefer  of  Bilin, 
called  Saugschiefer,  are  also  the  remains  of  Gaillonellse,  cemented 
and  tilled  with  amorphous  siliceous  matter  derived  from  these  infu- 
soria; and  that  nodules  of  Semiopal,  which  occur  in  the  same 
Polierschiefer,  are  also  composed  of  Silex  derived  from  infusorial 
remains  that  have  been  dissolved  and  formed  into  siliceous  concre- 
tions, having  dispersed  through  them  numbers  of  infusorial  shields, 
partially  dissolved,  together  with  others  that  are  unaltered.  Ehren- 
berg also  thinks  he  has  found  indications  of  microscopic  orgr.nic 
bodies  of  a  spherical  form,  (some,  perhaps,  allied  to  the  existing 
genus  Pyxidicula,)  in  semi-opal  from  Champigny,  and  also  in 
semi-opal  from  the  Dolerite  of  Steinheim  near  Hanau,  and  from 
the  Serpentine  of  Koseraitz  in  Silesia,  and  in  precious  opal  from 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES.  461 

the  Porphyry  of  Kaschau.  In  the  white  and  opake  bands  of  a  few 
chalk  Hints,  he  has  also  found  spherical  and  needle-shaped  micro- 
scopic bodies,  which  he  considers  to  be  of  organic  origin;  these 
are  most  abundant  in  the  white  siliceous  crust  which  forms  the 
exterior  of  the  flints,  and  in  the  mealy  siliceous  powder  sometimes 
found  within  their  cavities,  but  are  not  distinguishable  in  the  black 
interior  of  the  nodule.  The  existence  of  living  marine  species 
of  Infusoria,  renders  it  probable  that  animals  of  this  class 
existed  also  in  the  early  seas  in  which  the  stratified  rocks  were 
deposited.  The  fact  that  living  Infusoria  have  the  power  of  se- 
creting Silex  and  Iron,  places  their  fossil  siliceous  and  ferruginous 
remains,  nearly  in  the  same  category  with  the  fossil  calcareous 
exuviffi  of  Foraminifers,  Polypes  and  Crustaceans. 

The  living  species  of  these  animalcules,  which  are  now  begin- 
ning to  be  found  so  abundantly  in  a  fossil  state,  are  divided  into 
two  classes  and  six  families  ;  three  of  these  families  have  a  naked 
flexible  epidermis,  and  three,  a  siliceous  epidermis,  forming  a  trans- 
parent shell,  or  cuirass.  The  cuirass,  in  the  greater  number  of 
species,  is  composed  of  two  siliceous  valves,  the  univalve  cuirass 
has  the  shape  of  a  leaf,  with  its  edges  rolled  inwards  towards  each 
other.  About  one  half  of  Ehrenberg's  genera  of  Infusoria,  have  a 
siliceous  cuirass,  and  the  other  half,  a  membranous  covering. 

The  species  found  at  Carlsbad  do  not  live  in  the  rising  thermal 
water,  but  are  seen  a  small  distance  from  the  spring,  covering  the 
stones  and  wood  with  a  green  slimy  substance,  chiefly  composed 
of  the  bodies  of  millions  of  Infusoria.  These  animalcules  are  never 
found  in  the  rising  water  of  a  hot  spring,  nor  in  the  limpid  water 
of  a  cold  spring,  river,  or  well. 

P.  3.37,  Note.  Mr.  Searles  Wood  has  discovered  fifty  species 
of  foraminifers  in  the  lower  Crag  formation  of  Suflx)lk. 

Lond.  and  Edin.  Phil.  Mag.  Aug.  1835.  p.  86. 

P.  371.  Mr.  Webster  was  the  first  who  noticed  in  the  I.  of 
Portland  the  interesting  Phenomena  of  the  Bed  of  black  vegetable 
mould  called  the  Dirt  Bed,  with  its  fossil  wood,  pebbles,  &c.  and 
ascertained  that  the  silicified  Trees  found  in  this  island  had  been 
obtained  from  this  bed  only,  and  not  from  the  Portland  Oolite. 

39* 


462  SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES. 

Geol.  Trans.  Lond.  N.  S.  Vol.  II.  p.  42.  He  also  states  that 
the  Purbeck  series  contains  strata  of  Fresh-water  origin,  and  is 
thus  distinguished  from  the  Portland  Oolite,  which  contains  ma- 
rine shells  only.  In  the  Paper  referred  to,  he  hesitates  where  to 
draw  the  exact  line  of  separation  between  these  two  formations, 
but  is  inclined  to  place  it  at  the  Chert  Bed,  (See  PI.  57,  Fig.  1.) 
an  opinion  which  he  still  maintains.  In  the  same  Paper  he  con- 
siders the  Dirt  Bed  not  to  rest  immediately  upon  a  stratum  of  ma- 
rine formation,  (as  Mr.  De  la  Beche  and  myself  have  subsequently 
and  erroneously  supposed  it  to  do  ;  Geol.  Trans.  N.  S.  Vol.  IV. 
p.  15.)  but  that  the  Beds  called  Top  Cap,  immediately  beneath  the 
Dirt  Bed  (see  PI.  57,  Fig.  1.)  are  of  Fresh-water  origin.  Beneath 
this  Top  Cap,  two  other  seams  of  black  earth  of  very  small  extent 
and  thickness,  one  about  five  feet  and  the  other  seven  feet  below 
the  Dirt  Bed,  were  discovered  in  1832,  by  Prof.  Henslow,  (Geol. 
Trans.  N.  S.  Vol.  IV.  p.  16,)  and  in  the  uppermost  of  these  Dr. 
Fitton  has  since  found  trunks  of  Cycadites,  in  the  position  which' 
they  would  have  occupied  if  they  had  grown  there.  (See  GeoL. 
Trans.  N.  S.  V.  iv.  p.  219.) 

P.  375.  In  the  course  of  the  last  year,  Mr.  Robert  Brown  has 
ascertained  by  exmination  of  a  Trunk  of  Cycadites  microphyllus, 
from  Portland,  the  existence  of  scalariform  vessels  without  discs, 
in  the  mature  Trunk ;  a  point  in  which  he  informs  rae,  these  fos- 
sils agree  with  the  American  portion  of  the  order  Cytadex,  though, 
in  other  repects,  they  bear  a  greater  resemblance  to  the  African  and 
Australian  species.  Mr.  Brown  observes  farther,  "  that  the  order 
Cycadese  presents  but  one  genus  in  America,  namely,  the  ZamiOr 
on  which  this  genus  was  originally  founded,  and  to  which  it  has 
been  recently  restricted  ;  and  that  the  coincidence  in  the  structure 
of  the  scalariform  vessels  in  the  trunk  of  this  Zamia  of  the  New 
World,  with  that  of  the  fossil  Cycadites  of  Europe,  is  very  re- 
markable," 

P.  38D.  Note.  Since  the  Publication  of  my  first  Edition,  I 
have  been  favoured  with  the  following  communication  from  Mr. 
Bowerbank,  respecting  the  fossil  remains  of  vegetables  found  in 
the  London  Clay,     "  I  have,  in  my  collection  of  fossil  fruits  from 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES.  463 

ihe  London  Clay,  moie  than  25,000  specimens.  The  species  I 
have  already  determined  exceed  500  in  number,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  that  several  hundred  more  may  be  estimated  at  the  true  num- 
ber in  my  collection.  The  late  Mr.  Crow  informed  me  that  he 
was  acquainted  with  between  6  and  700  species.  None  of  these 
fruits  can  be  with  certainty  referred  to  any  recent  species,  although 
the  approximation  is  in  many  instances  very  close.  Palmaceous 
fruits  are  abundant,  and  many  other  fruits  agreeing  not  only  in  ex- 
ternal form,  but  in  internal  structure  with  well  known  classes  of 
seed-vessels  of  the  present  period  ;  along  with  these  there  are  some 
which  I  have  not  as  yet  been  able  to  refer  to  any  known  form  of 
fruit.  Coniferous  fruits  are  comparatively  scarce,  although  the  re- 
mains of  Coniferous  branches  are  by  no  means  uncommon.  A 
similar  discrepancy  exists  as  regards  the  Palms,  stems  of  palma- 
ceous structure  being  rarely  found,  although  the  species  of  fruits 
of  that  order  are  numerous.  The  principal  bulk  of  fossilized 
woods  found  in  the  London  Clay  are  decidedly  Dicotiledonous,  and 
the  great  bulk  of  fossil  fruits  likewise.  The  internal  structure  of 
both  fruits  and  woods  is  preserved  in  a  most  perfect  and  beautiful 
manner." 

P.  412.  At  a  meeting  of  the  British  Association  at  Bristol,  in 
August,  1836,  Mr.  R.  W.  Fox  submitted  to  the  Geological  Sec- 
tion an  experiment,  showing  that  the  native  yellow  copper,  or  bi- 
sulphurel  is  convertible  into  the  suJphitret  of  that  metal  by  weak 
voltaic  action.  His  apparatus  consisted  of  a  trough  divided  into  two 
compartments  or  cells,  by  the  intervention  of  a  mass  or  wall  of 
moistened  clay.  In  one  of  these  cells  he  put  a  solution  of  sulphate 
of  copper,  and  a  piece  of  the  yellow  bi-sulphuret  of  copper  ;  and  in 
the  other  cell,  some  water  with  a  little  sulphuric  acid  in  it,  or  wa- 
ter only,  without  acid,  together  with  a  piece  of  Zinc  which  was 
connected  with  the  copper  pyrites  in  the  other  cell,  by  means  of  a 
copper  wire. 

This  simple  voltaic  arrangement  quickly  changed  the  surface  of 
the  copper  ore  from  a  yellow  to  a  beautiful  iridescent  colour,  after- 
wards to  a  purple  copper,  and  finally,  in  the  course  of  a  few  days, 
to  the  sulphuret,  on  which  metallic  copper  was  copiously  deposited 
in  brilliant  crystals.     When  this  process  was  continued  for  some 


464  SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES* 

weeks,  and  sulphate  of  copper  added  from  time  to  time,  the  sulphuret 
of  copper  formed  rather  a  thick  crust  immediately  under  the  metallic 
crystals,  and  appeared  almost  black  and  somewhat  friable.  He 
considered  that  the  oxide  of  copper  in  the  solution  parted  with  its 
oxygen  to  a  portion  of  the  sulphur  of  the  bi-sulphuret,  thus  form- 
ing sulphuric  acid,  which  was  transmitted  through  the  clay  to  the 
Zinc  in  the  other  cell,  whilst  the  de-oxydized  copper  was  deposi- 
ted on  the  electro-negative  copper  ore.  These  results  seemed  to 
explain  the  reason  why  metallic  copper  is  found  in  the  mines  in 
contact  with  the  sulphuret  and  black  copper  ore,  and  not  with  the 
yellow  bi-sulphuret  of  that  metal ;  and  likewise  why  the  sulphuret 
of  copper  commonly  occurs  in  metallic  veins  nearer  the  surface 
than  the  yellow  bi-sulphuret,  where  it  is  exposed  to  the  action  of 
water  and  of  ferruginous  matter,  as  indicated  by  the  "  gossan,'"'  or 
oxide  of  Iron,  which  occurs  in  the  upper  regions  of  Copper  mines 
in  Cornwall.  Mr.  E.  W.  Fox  referred  also  to  his  experiments  on 
the  electro-magnetic  condition  of  metallic  veins,  and  adduced  proofs 
of  the  electricity  which  he  had  detected  in  them,  being  indepen- 
dent of  accidental  influence;  indeed,  he  obtained  very  decided 
voltaic  action  when  a  piece  of  sulphuret,  and  another  of  yellow  bi- 
sulphuret  of  copper  were  dipped  in  water,  taken  from  a  mine,  the 
former  being  electro-positive  with  respect  to  the  latter.  This  ex- 
periment shows  that  the  voltaic  action  between  different  metallic 
lodes,  and  different  parts  of  the  same  lode,  must  be  very  great. 
He  was  induced  to  commence  his  electro-magnetic  experiments  in 
mines  inconsequence  of  the  analogy  which  he  thought  he  perceived 
in  mineral  veins  to  voltaic  combinations. 

In  another  experiment  Mr.  R.  W.  Fox  has  substituted  the  sul- 
phuret or  vitreous  copper  ore  for  the  piece  of  Zinc  in  one  of  the 
cells,  all  other  circumstances  being  the  same  as  before  described, 
and  in  a  few  weeks  the  yellow  bi-sulphuret  of  copper  in  the  other 
cell  was  covered  with  a  thin  coating  of  the  sulphuret  of  that  metal. 
He  has  also  found  that  sulphuretted  hydrogen  is  copiously  evolved 
when  yellow  copper  ore  is  placed  in  a  solution  of  sulphate  of  Zinc 
or  of  Iron  in  one  of  the  cells,  and  connected,  by  means  of  a  wire, 
with  a  piece  of  Zinc  in  the  water  of  the  other  cell.  As  sulphu- 
retted hydrogen  has  the  property  of  precipitating  most  of  the  me- 
tals from  their  solutions,  in  the  form  of  sulphurets,  this  experiment 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES.  465 

seems  to  point  at  an  agent  which  may  have  produced  many  of  the 
metallic  sulphurets.     See  vol.  ii.  P.  108.  Note. 

In  a  subsequent  communication  to  the  Geol.  Soc.  of  London, 
January,  1837,  Mr.  Fox  observes,  "  I  imagine  that  I  see  more  and 
more  reason  to  believe,  that  the  Eastward  and  Westward  ten- 
dency of  metallic  veins,  must  be  ascribed  to  the  electro-magnetic 
influence  of  the  earth.  In  some  parts  of  the  world  there  may  be 
considerable  deviations  from  this  bearing,  which  may  be  owing 
to  local  circumstances;  but  the  coincidence  in  their  direction, 
generally  speaking,  is  so  great  and  decided  as  clearly  to  indicate 
the  operation  of  a  general  law.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  many 
of  the  large  veins  of  haematite,  and  other  varieties  of  the  oxide  of 
iron  found  in  Cornwall,  have  nearly  a  N.  &;  S.  bearing.  I  am  not 
prepared  to  say  whether  there  are  any  exceptions,  or  not;  but  it  is 
curious  to  find  decided  iron  veins  nearly  coincident  with  the  mean 
magnetic  meridian," 

M.  Becquerel  has  recently  made  a  most  important  application  of 
some  electro-chemical  apparatus  to  the  immediate  reduction  of  the 
ores  of  silver,  lead,  and  copper,  without  the  intervention  of  mercury, 
and  is  now  occupied  with  farther  researches  on  the  extraction  of 
metals  from  their  respective  ores.  L'Institut.  March  21,  1836. 
Phil.  Mag.  February,  1837. 

The  practical  results  of  these  researches  are  noticed  in  the 
following  terms  by  Mr.  Wheatstone,  in  a  letter  I  have  recently 
received  from  him  upon  this  subject.  "  The  value  of  Mr.  Fox's 
interesting  experiments  consists  in  the  exact  analogy  they  bear 
to  the  circumstances  which  actually  take  place  in  mineral  veins; 
still  more  important  are  the  long-continued  researches  of  M. 
Becquerel,  on  the  permanent  action  of  feeble  currents  in  effecting 
chemical  combinations  and  decompositions;  a  very  full  account  of 
these  instructive  experiments  has  recently  been  published  in  the 
third  part  of  Taylor's  Scientific  Memoirs,  and  deserves  the  atten- 
tion of  every  geologist  who  desires  to  penetrate  into  the  mysteries 
of  mineral  formations.  Neither  are  these  investigations  without 
practical  value;  M.  Becquerel  has  recently  shown  a  mode  by  which 
the  precious  metals  may  be  separated  from  their  ores,  in  a  per- 
fectly pure  state,  without  the  aid  of  mercury;  and  we  understand 
that  the  process  is  now  actually  working  in  some  of  the  mining 


■466  SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES. 

establishments  of  France.  The  electro-chemical  apparatus  for  this 
purpose,  consists  simply  of  iron,  a  concentrated  solution  of  sea  salt, 
and  the  ore  of  the  metal  properly  prepared.  Thus  that  mighty 
agent,  which  nature  has  hitherto  exclusively  employed  in  her 
extensive  laboratory,  is  beginning  to  be  the  obedient  servant  of 
man;  and  it  requires  not  the  tongue  of  a  prophet  to  foretel  that  the 
voltaic  pile  will  hereafter  create  as  great  a  revolution  in  our  che- 
mical manufactories,  as  the  steam-engine  has  already  effected  m 
the  mechanical  arts." 


APPENDIX. 


P.  64.  I  learn  from  Mr.  Pentland,  that  the  head  of  a  species 
of  Dasyurus  as  large  as,  and  closely  allied  to,  D.  Cynocephalus 
(Thylacinus  Harrisii)  of  Van  Diemen's  Land,  has  been  recently 
discovered  in  the  Eocene  Fresh-water  limestone  of  Auvergne. 
The  Thylacinus  is  the  largest  of  the  carnivorous  marsupial 
animals,  being  of  the  size  of  a  wolf,  but  having  shorter  legs;  it  is 
the  only  living  species  of  this  genus,  and  is  found  only  in  Van 
Diemen's  Land. 

P.  131,  Note.  In  the  Tertiary  formations  we  have  fossil  frogs, 
tadpoles,  and  salamanders,  in  the  Papier  Kohle  near  Bonn  (see 
P.  382,  Note,  and  P.  385,  Note,  1.  36,)  and  fossil  Snakes  in  the 
Fresh-water  strata  of  Clermont,  in  Auvergne. 

P.  250.  It  is  shown  in  a  notice  read  by  M.  Voltz  to  the 
Natural  History  Society  at  Strasbourg,  December  6,  1836,  that 
the  problematical  fossils  known  by  the  name  of  Aptychus,  Trigo- 
nellites,  &c.  which  are  sometimes  found  lodged  in  pairs  within  the 
first  chamber  of  Ammonites,  were  Opercula  connected  with  the 
foot,  or  organ  by  which  the  animals  inhabiting  these  shells  moved 
along  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  (L'Institut,  February  8, 1837.)  The 
form  of  the  dense  coriacerous  foot  of  the  Pearly  Nautilus  figured 
by  Mr.  Owen  in  his  Plate  3,  Fig.  1,  (See  our  Supp.  Note,  P. 
456,)  resembles  that  of  the  valves  of  several  species  of  Aptychus; 
but  it  has  no  shelly  appendage. 


468  SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES. 

P.  356.  Farther  important  communications  respecting  Sigil- 
laria  have  recently  been  published  in  the  11th  and  12th  Livraisons 
of  M.  Adolphe  Brongniart's  Vegetaux  Fossiles,  1836;  in  the 
details  of  which  he  points  out  the  relations  of  these  abundant  and 
curious  fossil  plants  of  the  coal  formation  to  arborescent  Ferns,  in 
a  manner  that  justifies  the  place  he  originally  assigned  to  them  in 
the  family  of  Ferns. 


END  OF  VOL.  J. 


